#2 Ibrahim Afellay - Netherlands
After a bit part role in World Cup 2010, the then 26-year old Afellay was touted as the next big thing — at least by the Barcelona faithful. In spite of an injury plagued season after joining Barcelona in 2011, Afellay was called up to the Euro 2012 squad.
Afellay started the first two matches in Euro 2012’s Group of Death, but his poor performance didn’t help Netherlands as they lost both the games to Denmark and Germany. He was then benched for the final game for van Der Vaart, which Netherlands lost as well, crashing out of the tournament without a single point.
Afellay was sent on loan to Schalke 04 the following season, which was again plagued by a recurring muscle injury. His season was reduced to just fifteen matches, with four goals. He got into the news for criticising the medical staff of Schalke, and eventually returned to Barcelona.
Although he started training earlier than the rest of the Barcelona team in 2013, he had to undergo another surgery in August 2013 which made him unavailable until 2014. He made a total of two appearances for Barcelona in the 2013-14 season and wasn’t even considered for 30-man squad for the World Cup – and no one even noticed his absence.
