EURO 2012 predictions - Who will be the top scorer?

Gerd Muller, Michel Platini, Marco Van Basten, Alan Shearer, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert and David Villa are just some of the players to have banged in the most goals at a European Championship.

So who will it be in 2012? Cristiano Ronaldo? Karim Benzema? Or someone no-one expected? Milan Baros gained the honour in 2004. Who will join the prestigious list as a golden boot winner at a European Championship.

World’s Best?

The ongoing debate of this season has been who’s the best? Messi or Ronaldo? As Lionel lies on his sun bed having some time off, Cristiano can stake a real claim for this honour. Both players have been sensational for their clubs. The best ever is a possibility for both.

However neither has really done it at an international competition. Argentina slumped out to the German’s with Messi never really getting going while Ronny bagged just one goal, in a 7-0 thrashing of North Korea. He did score 7 in qualifying but usually against the likes of Cyprus and Iceland.

So is finally Ronny’s time? It has to be. At 27 he is in his prime and he won’t get a better chance again for this accolade. The issue though is the group. Portugal could struggle to even get out of it. So if Ronny wants any chance of winning the award he needs his team to help him get out the group, while banging in a few in the process. He must shine early to have any chance.

Pole Fancying Goals?

On that note we must look at the groups. The weakest is undoubtedly group A with hosts Poland, Czech Republic, Russia and Greece. So could we get a golden boot winner here.

Well the Greeks were the lowest scorers in qualifying with just over a goal a game, so they can be ruled out, especially considering no player got more than two in qualifying.

The Czech’s also only managed 12 goals in qualifying, Kadlec getting the most with 4 so they look unlikely.

The Russian’s managed slightly more but out of favour Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko was their highest scorer and a lack of match fitness could work against them.

So the Pole’s then. Who do they have. Their man could be Robert Lewandowski. Him bagging the goals may prove a nightmare for commentators but he’s also been a nightmare for Bundesliga defences this season with 22 goals in 34 matches. This has lead to links with Manchester United who watched him in the German Cup final of late.

If you are looking for an underdog it could be Lewandowski, in a weak group home advantage could help the Poles to get some good results and he looks like the man to get the goals.

English Hopes?

If it wasn’t for a two game ban Wayne Rooney would be the man all hopes of an English golden boot would be pinned on. Unfortunately he misses two very important matches. Is there anyone else then? In short it’s probably no. Rooney has more Premier League Goal’s this season than the other strikers, Carroll, Defoe and Welbeck combined.

The only chance of a golden boot for England seems to be if the rest of the team perform without Rooney for the first two games so he has a chance to bang them in more than one fixture.

French Fancy

Elsewhere in England’s group, the Swede’s have the talisman Ibrahimović looking to get the goals. However his international record doesn’t compare to his sensational domestic record. In the league for Milan this year he’s managed 28 goals in 31 appearances, while in 2011 he just managed three in eight games for Sweden, the big man may be a goal scorer wherever he goes but the Swedish supply doesn’t compare to Milan.

However we must cast our eyes at France. This season by far has been Benzema’s best in Madrid with twenty one goals in thirty four appearances. However comparison can be made to Ibrahimovic, he has struggled internationally, with just thirteen goals in forty two appearances. However Zlatan is 30, Karim is 24. His prime could be coming at the right time for the Euros and with qualification from the group looking likely he could bag a few for France as the lone striker.

Dutch Duo

The Dutch are strongly fancied for the competition behind Spain and Germany. As goal scorers go as well the Dutch could be fancied for a golden boot, they hold the Premier League highest goal scorer and the highest goal scorer from Euro 2012 Qualifying.

Van Persie swept the board for Premiership awards, rightly too and will be looking to carry his form in to Euro 2012.

However he has often be overshadowed at international level by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He managed to get a very impressive twelve goals in qualifying and will lead the line for the Dutch, the main reason for Van Persie’s overshadowing is the fact he is often employed on the wing with Huntelaar preferred in attack.

Spain and Germany?

The big two at this tournament look set to be the Germans and the Spanish so who will be bagging them in for them? Spain’s main man is usually David Villa. He top scored with seven in qualifying. However a huge blow came this week with him ruled out through injury. This means Spain will probably need to all chip in with goals with few huge names up top. Roberto Soldado of Valencia the player they will probably need to look to.

The Germans then. Their top scorer in qualifying was Klose however they prefer to play just the one striker and this could set to be Mario Gomez. However a huge dent could have been put in his confidence with the poor performance of the Champions League final. It will be interesting to see how he picks himself up or the manager goes with the vastly experience Klose.

Those are the candidates, all have impressive records rather at club or international level, so who will face the pressure and come away with the honour. Well bear this is in mind, the golden boot winner has only once won the competition. Maybe not such an award after all then!

Who do I fancy? It’s hard to look past the league form of Van Persie and Ronaldo but both need to step up at international level. An outsider though, look no further than Benzema.

Time to get your shooting boots on boys.