The Top 10 – Panini UEFA Euro Poland-Ukraine 2012

Mario Balotelli, the former wonderkid, is a talented forward known for his explosive pace, strength, and clinical finishing ability. He possesses excellent dribbling skills and is adept at both scoring goals with both feet. Balotelli is also known for his powerful shots from distance and his aerial prowess, making him a threat in various attacking situations.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Balotelli played a crucial role for the Italian national team. He showcased his goal-scoring ability with several memorable performances, including a brace against Germany in the semifinals, where he scored two impressive goals to help Italy secure a spot in the final. We all remember that celebration with his shirt off flexing!

Most of us who have followed Balotelli know he didn’t come close to reaching his potential. Put blunt, his attitude stinks. Nonetheless, he did have a good tournament in the 2012 Euros. I think this is a an interesting sticker to remember the supreme talent he had and ponder what was possible if he applied himself.

Olivier Giroud is a striker known for his physical presence, aerial ability, and technical proficiency as a big man. He possesses excellent hold-up play, using his strength and positioning to shield the ball and bring teammates into play. Giroud is particularly effective in the air, capable of winning headers and scoring goals from crosses and set pieces. One of his more underrated qualities is his first touch and interplay with team mates.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Giroud played a limited role for the French national team, mostly coming off the bench as a substitute. In truth, he didn’t get many minutes to impose himself, but not long after he secured a move to Arsenal.

Giroud has seemingly gone under the radar and picked up many achievements in his career. He has won: the French Ligue 1, the Serie A, 4 English FA Cups, a Europa league, a Champions league and a World Cup! Additionally, he is France’s top scorer (likely to be overtaken)! This is a very underrated sticker, probably can pick up for less than a $1!

Luka Modric is a legendary midfielder renowned for his exceptional vision, passing range, dribbling ability, and ball control. His key skills include his intelligence on the field, precise passing, and ability to dictate the tempo of the game from midfield. One of the greatest to ever do it in the center of the pitch, and I am sure many of the readers already know this!

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Modric showcased his playmaking abilities as he featured every minute for Croatia. Modric’s vision and passing were crucial in creating goal-scoring opportunities for his team, and he often contributed defensively with his work rate and ability to intercept passes. Unfortunately, Croatia couldn’t make it out of their strong group, finishing third behind the two finalists, Italy and Spain.

Modric’s career has just been too successful for me to leave him out of this list. Given he doesn’t have too many products prior to to this sticker, I think this a solid sticker to add to the collection.

Georginio Wijnaldum is a versatile midfielder known for his athleticism, technical ability, and tactical intelligence on the field. He excels in both offensive and defensive aspects of the game, contributing with his passing, dribbling, and ability to cover ground effectively. Wijnaldum’s key strengths include his versatility to play in various midfield roles, his ball-winning capabilities, and his knack for making timely runs into the box to score goals. He is a bit of a Swiss army knife of a midfielder – I just coined that myself!

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Wijnaldum actually didn’t feature as he was apart of the under 21 squad. He featured a little in the qualifiers and Panini decided to chuck him the set.

His best football came at Liverpool under Klopp. His gegenpress tactics suited Wijnaldum to the ground as he at elite physical characteristics. With Liverpool, he won an EPL title and a UCL title. This international rookie sticker represents one of his first products as not too much came out of the Netherlands during this time (and still!).

Marco Reus is an attacking midfielder known for his versatility, technical skills, and goal-scoring ability. He possesses excellent dribbling skills, close ball control, and agility. Reus is also known for his powerful and accurate shooting, both from distance and in the box. His ability to play across the attacking midfield positions and even as a forward makes him a valuable asset to any team. He is basically a living legend at Borussia Dortmund, spending 12 seasons at the club, and currently, as of the time of writing, has led Borussia Dortmund to the UCL Semi-Final, in what may be his final season.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Reus was unused most of the time. He got an opportunity in the quarter-final and scored to help Germany to the next round. He played 45 minutes in the next round against Italy but Germany fell short.

As previously mentioned, Reus has stayed loyal to Dortmund and become a club legend. I think this rookie sticker will be one to collect for that reason!

Jordi Alba is an attacking left-back known for his exceptional pace, attacking threat, and defensive solidity. His key skills include his speed, stamina, and technical ability, which allow him to make overlapping runs down the left flank, deliver accurate crosses into the box, and contribute to his team’s attacking play. How many times have we seen a marauding run from Alba to the byline and a cut back to Leo Messi?!

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Alba played a crucial role in Spain’s success as he established himself as one of the best left-backs in the world. He provided width and movement on the left side of the pitch, often linking up with his teammates to create goal-scoring opportunities. Alba’s attacking contributions were highlighted by his goal in the final against Italy, where he demonstrated his ability to join the attack and finish with precision.

Alba has had a monster career! A Euros title, and countless trophies, including a UCL and 6 La Liga titles! There’s an argument to call him the best left back of his generation. Another nice rookie to include in the collection.

Cristiano Ronaldo, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, is known for his exceptional athleticism, speed, dribbling ability, and prolific goal-scoring record. Ronaldo is equally adept with both feet and possesses a powerful shot, making him a threat from anywhere on the field. His aerial prowess, combined with his ability to score with his head, adds another dimension to his game.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Ronaldo played a crucial role for the Portuguese national team. He led the team to the semi-finals, where they fell short against Spain, the eventual champions. Ronaldo, was joint top scorer in the tournament with 3 goals.

We all know the career this guy has gone onto have so I don’t need to enlighten the readers. Any sticker of CR7 is a solid one for the collection, and this one is no different!

Xavi is a playmaker renowned for his exceptional passing ability, vision, intelligence, and tactical awareness. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Xavi’s style of play is defined by his precise short and long-range passing, ability to control the tempo of the game, and outstanding ball retention skills. He is also known for his excellent positional sense, allowing him to dictate play from midfield and orchestrate attacks. For me personally, in terms of controlling the tempo of the game from midfield, Xavi is the best I have ever seen!

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Xavi played a pivotal role in Spain’s success. He was instrumental in their possession-based style of play, acting as the team’s metronome in midfield. Xavi’s ability to dictate the rhythm of the game and find key passes helped Spain dominate possession in most matches. He was the most influential player in terms of Spain’s possession based style.

Given Spain’s domination and how influential Xavi was, I think he needed to be high on this list. A great sticker!

Andrés Iniesta is an advanced playmaker known for his exceptional dribbling ability, vision, ball control, and clutch performances. He is renowned for his ability to maintain possession under pressure and create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Iniesta’s playing style is characterized by his close ball control, quick turns, and ability to glide past defenders with ease. He possesses excellent passing range and timing, often delivering precise through balls and incisive passes to unlock opposing defences.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Iniesta played a crucial role in Spain’s success. His creative spark and technical brilliance were instrumental in Spain’s possession-based style of play. Iniesta’s ability to drive forward with the ball, combined with his vision and decision-making, made him a constant threat to opposition defences. His performances during the tournament earned him the player of the tournament! His partnership with Xavi proved unstoppable for opposition teams.

Iniesta has featured in my Top 10 lists a few times now. Clearly he is a quality player and because he was the player of the tournament, he makes the number 2 spot!

Robert Lewandowski is a legendary striker known for his exceptional goal-scoring ability, physical presence, and technical skills. He is renowned for his positioning, movement off the ball, and clinical finishing. He is prolific with both feet and possesses a powerful and precise shot, as well as the ability to score with headers.

During the Euro 2012 tournament, Lewandowski managed 1 goal, but in truth it was a poor tournament for Poland as a whole. They failed to register a single win in the group stage.

Most of us know how deadly this guy was in the Bundesliga. For Dortmund and Bayern he scored 447 goals in 562 games. That is an insane hit rate! He is now plying his trade leading the line for Barcelona at the ripe age of 35. The goals haven’t dried up as he has scored 53 in 89 appearances, as of the time of writing (April, 2024).

To top it all off he has scored 82 goals for Poland, where he is captain, in a whopping 148 caps! I predict this will be a mega sticker after he retires. It will never get close in value to his earlier stickers while he was playing in the Polish league, but it will be a solid collectable item for lovers of generational strikers!