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Euro 2012 D-Day: A starting XI of players staying at home this summer

We’d back this lot to get out of Group A at the very least…

29/05/12 1,151 Views No Comments

IT’S THE DAY that kept the fringe players of Europe’s national teams awake at night in cold sweats — Euro 2012 squad deadline day.

With so many big names missing out for footballing reasons and through injury, we’ve picked our best starting XI of those who won’t be gracing our screens next month.

We’d back this lot to get out of Group A at the very least.

Euro 2012 D-Day: A starting XI of players staying at home this summer
1 / 11

  • GK: David de Gea (Spain)

    The Manchester United keeper has yet to make his senior debut for Spain. At 21, he's got plenty of time on his side but he's also got three of the continent's top stoppers ahead of him in the pecking order: Iker Casillas, Victor Valdes and Pepe Reina. Looks likely to play in the Olympics instead of the Euros.

  • DF: Micah Richards (England)

    Richards was a central figure in Manchester City's title-winning season and many considered him shoe-in for Roy Hodgson's Euro squad. The call never came though, with Liverpool's Martin Kelly getting the nod as emergency cover for last week's friendly against Norway. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

  • DF: Carles Puyol (Spain)

    A rock at the heart of so many successful Barcelona and Spain defences, Euro 2012 will be a poorer place with Carles Puyol who misses out with a knee injury. The Irish camp probably won't lose too much sleep feeling sorry for him though. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

  • DF: Vasili Berezutski (Russia)

    Berezutski's experience will be a huge loss to Russia this summer. The 29-year-old has 61 international caps but learned last week that his thigh injury will take longer than expected to heal, ruling him out of the tournament. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

  • DF: Kevin Foley (Republic of Ireland)

    The circumstances of Foley's omission means that he just shades the injured Kyle Walker for the final slot in our back four. The Wolves utility man looked set for Poland before he was suddenly dropped by Giovanni Trapattoni in favour of Paul McShane at the 11th hour. (©INPHO/Donall Farmer)

  • MF: Panagiotis Kone (Greece)

    Bologna's Panagiotis Kone ended his chances of making coach Fernando Santos's squad when he was sent off in injury time of Greece's friendly against Slovenia on Saturday for striking an opponent. Silly boy. (AP Photo/Luigi Vasini)

  • MF: Keith Fahey (Republic of Ireland)

    Despite his lack of top-flight football this season, Fahey impressed Giovanni Trapattoni enough to land one of the eight midfield berths in the Irish squad. His failure to recover from a groin strain saw Paul Green called up in his place. (©INPHO/Donall Farmer)

  • MF: Gareth Barry (England)

    One of a long, long list of English players to miss out through injury, Barry picked up an abdomen problem during Saturday's friendly against Norway. Instead of replacing like with like, Roy Hodgson called Everton's Phil Jagielka into the squad as extra defensive cover.

  • MF: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Russia)

    The former Everton player returned home to Spartak Moscow in a bid to secure his place on the plane to Euro 2012, but was given "an unpleasant blow" when he was left off Dick Advocaat's shortlisted squad for the tournament. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

  • AM: Yoann Gourcuff (France)

    Once heralded as one of France's brightest stars, a season plagued with injury did Gourcuff's Euro prospects no favours. The Lyon midfielder played 75 minutes against Iceland on Saturday but wasn't on Laurent Blanc's final panel this morning. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

  • ST: David Villa (Spain)

    Spain's all-time top scorer has been out of action since December after he broke his tibia while in action for Barcelona at the Club World Cup. Doctors' initial estimates of a six-month recovery period should have seen him fit in time to make Vicente del Bosque's squad, but he conceded last week that he won't be ready. (AP Photo/ Shizuo Kambayashi)
  • The Manchester United keeper has yet to make his senior debut for Spain. At 21, he's got plenty of time on his side but he's also got three of the continent's top stoppers ahead of him in the pecking order: Iker Casillas, Victor Valdes and Pepe Reina. Looks likely to play in the Olympics instead of the Euros.
  • Richards was a central figure in Manchester City's title-winning season and many considered him shoe-in for Roy Hodgson's Euro squad. The call never came though, with Liverpool's Martin Kelly getting the nod as emergency cover for last week's friendly against Norway. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
  • A rock at the heart of so many successful Barcelona and Spain defences, Euro 2012 will be a poorer place with Carles Puyol who misses out with a knee injury. The Irish camp probably won't lose too much sleep feeling sorry for him though. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
  • Berezutski's experience will be a huge loss to Russia this summer. The 29-year-old has 61 international caps but learned last week that his thigh injury will take longer than expected to heal, ruling him out of the tournament. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
  • The circumstances of Foley's omission means that he just shades the injured Kyle Walker for the final slot in our back four. The Wolves utility man looked set for Poland before he was suddenly dropped by Giovanni Trapattoni in favour of Paul McShane at the 11th hour. (©INPHO/Donall Farmer)
  • Bologna's Panagiotis Kone ended his chances of making coach Fernando Santos's squad when he was sent off in injury time of Greece's friendly against Slovenia on Saturday for striking an opponent. Silly boy. (AP Photo/Luigi Vasini)
  • Despite his lack of top-flight football this season, Fahey impressed Giovanni Trapattoni enough to land one of the eight midfield berths in the Irish squad. His failure to recover from a groin strain saw Paul Green called up in his place. (©INPHO/Donall Farmer)
  • One of a long, long list of English players to miss out through injury, Barry picked up an abdomen problem during Saturday's friendly against Norway. Instead of replacing like with like, Roy Hodgson called Everton's Phil Jagielka into the squad as extra defensive cover.
  • The former Everton player returned home to Spartak Moscow in a bid to secure his place on the plane to Euro 2012, but was given
  • Once heralded as one of France's brightest stars, a season plagued with injury did Gourcuff's Euro prospects no favours. The Lyon midfielder played 75 minutes against Iceland on Saturday but wasn't on Laurent Blanc's final panel this morning. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
  • Spain's all-time top scorer has been out of action since December after he broke his tibia while in action for Barcelona at the Club World Cup. Doctors' initial estimates of a six-month recovery period should have seen him fit in time to make Vicente del Bosque's squad, but he conceded last week that he won't be ready. (AP Photo/ Shizuo Kambayashi)

Trap names final Euros squad — McShane in, Foley out

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About the author:

Niall Kelly
@niallkelly
niall@thescore.ie

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