2 – Daniele De Rossi
This may sound odd for a man that reaches the second place in this list, but Daniele De Rossi was actually a slight disappointment for the Azzurri. At his peak, the man was possibly the strongest midfielder in Europe.
An unfathomable cocktail of superb defensive, passing, aerial and shooting skills, with stamina to rival a horse, a surprising finishing talent, and a psychological ferocity that could have made for a Sylvester Stallone character.
But while he regularly displayed all of these abilities for his club-team Roma, he only showed what he was capable of with the Azzurri in 2012. That was his best tournament for numerous reasons, including the fact that he showed more tactical versatility than anyone on this list (no other midfielder had to play as a central defender, never mind doing a fantastic job at it).
His other tournaments are a mixed bag. It is true that he played some good minutes in 2006, even converting one of the penalties in the final, but his elbowing of Bryan McBride in the game against the USA was disgraceful and suicidal. In 2008 he has the merit of scoring a goal against France, albeit on a rebound by Thierry Henry.
In 2010 he scored again, against Paraguay. One unfortunate characteristic of this player is that he seemed tactically incompatible with Andrea Pirlo for much of his career, as though the two phenomenal footballers diminished rather than exalted each other when playing together. The only time when both played at their best was in 2012, and the results speak for themselves.
Though his performances have come a little short of his universal talent so far, De Rossi has been an unquestionable starter from 2006 onwards, contributing enormously to the cause of the national team, tactically, physically and technically. The man is a genuine prodigy and we all hope that he will keep up his 2012 form for the next World Cup.
