Ronaldo, Rooney - no place for newcomers

WARSAW - There is no place for newcomers at Euro 2012 as the established players are making the headlines.Cristiano Ronaldo has led Portugal into the semifinals, Wayne Rooney headed England into the quarterfinals and Franck Ribery is emerging as leader of the French team.Two years ago at the World Cup in South Africa, Thomas Mueller led a few youngsters - mainly from his German team - to football fame as he became tournament top scorer.This time around in Poland and Ukraine there is no such rising star, and most of the potential candidates, such as Christian Eriksen of Denmark and Russia’s Alan Dzagoev, have already gone home.Controversial Italian Mario Balotelli could still make an impact but despite a goal against Ireland has so far not really delivered.“Euro is a difficult tournament, more difficult than the World Cup. Competition is extremely strong. It is not so easy for a new player, given all the big names,” says Michel Platini.“It is difficult to discover something new.”The former France captain is head of Europe’s football body Uefa and in this function has seen all 16 teams in action at least once in the eight stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.The 21-year-old Dzagoev appeared to become the revelation when he scored a double in Russia’s opening 4-1 drubbing of the Czech Republic on June 8.He scored again in the 1-1 draw with Poland but has been home for almost a week after the team crashed 1-0 against Greece.Czech Vaclav Pilar, 23, lasted a few days longer but after two goals in the group stage his status as “mini Messi” appeared too much in the absence of injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky in the quarterfinal defeat against Portugal.Ronaldo has been the star for Portugal after some early hiccups, scoring all the team’s last three goals against the Dutch and Czechs.Sweden relied on goals from captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic and veteran Olof Mellberg and co-hosts Ukraine went out when they lost a final group game against Rooney’s England when 35-year-old Andriy Shevchenko could not make the starting 11.The established forces were also due out in full force in the Saturday night quarterfinal between holders Spain and France, with Xavi (32) and Andres Iniesta (28) pulling the Spanish midfield strings and the French rallying around Ribery (29).The same applies to the Sunday date between Italy and England with the Azzurri relying on goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (34) and playmakerEngland got goals from youngsters Andy Carroll (23), Danny Welbeck (21) and Theo Walcott (23), but Carroll and Walcott found themselves back on the subs’ bench as soon as Rooney returned from suspension and scored against Ukraine.AgenciesRoy Hodgson’s team also has the likes of John Terry and captain Steven Gerrard, the 32-year Liverpool skipper who is England’s heart, lung and brain in one person.