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13 Ex-Premier League Players You May Have Forgotten Are Heading To Euro 2016

Gavin Cooney
By Gavin Cooney
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With all of the squads finalised - signalling the end of Keiren Westwood's strange torment - we have been hauled for a trip down memory lane with some relatively recognisable faces among the squads; the kind of players known to any reasonably regular viewer of Match of the Day. Here are some of the vaguely familiar faces likely to beguile your convenient sick days well-earned time off during the tournament.

Hungary

Hungary have qualified for a major tournament for the first time since 1986, with the set of players more mediocre than magical Magyars. Such obscurity is a fecund source for some nostalgia, however. Hungary's first choice goalkeeper, for example, is Gabor Kiraly, the man who graced Crystal Palace with his pyjama bottoms. This was arguably the outstanding sartorial choice by a goalkeeper, before the pants were usurped by Petr Cech's headgear. Undeterred, Kiraly has kept on playing, and has picked up a record 102 caps a figure which he will add to at the tournament. This will all be achieved at the ripe old age of 40.

Hungary's squad will also feature Zoltan Gera, formerly of West Brom and Fulham. It was for the latter he scored an overhead kick in a famous Europa League victory over Juventus.

Ahead of him is Tamas Priskin - who admittedly never made it to Premier League level - but will be recognisable to some as one of the players signed by Roy Keane at Ipswich Town. Keane wrote in his second autobiography that he valued Priskin at around £40,000, only for Ipswich to pay £1.75 million. A vengeful reunion with Keane during the tournament is, admittedly, unlikely.

Liverpool fans may remember other Hungarian players Peter Gulacsi and Krisztian Nemeth. They were signed to join the youth ranks by Rafa Benitez but never actually played a senior game.

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Romania

The recognisable figure here is Razvan Rat, a left-back who randomly spent the 2013-14 season at West Ham, having spent eleven seasons at Shaktar Donetsk. Rat played just 20 times, and was released in January 2014. About the only thing of note he achieved at West Ham was to be nicknamed 'Roland' by his teammates, and he had his new Ferrari was coined the 'ratmobile'.  He joined Ray Vallecano to escape this interminable b****r.

Switzerland

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Step forward former Arsenal defender Johan Djourou, now playing with Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

Sweden

This is, admittedly, a player who many Match of the Day viewers will not recognise. Kim Kallstrom (George Hamilton will tell you Shhhalstrom) was signed on loan by Arsene Wenger on transfer deadline day in 2014. He arrived in 2014 with a back injury and made just four appearances in all competitions. His debut didn't arrive until March. Despite his injury-curtailed time at Arsenal, Kallstrom has made 127 appearances for Sweden.

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Albania

Lorik Cana is Albania's captain at the tournament, and spent the 2009-10 season at Sunderland. He was signed by Steve Bruce and immediately handed the captaincy, and he soon became the first Albanian to play in the Premier League. 31 appearances later, he joined Galatasaray.

Iceland

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Eidur Gudjohnsen is still playing, at the age of 37. The ex-Chelsea and Barcelona forward enshrined himself pub quizzes for posterity in 1996, when he replaced his father in a friendly international. The potential of history repeating itself is (ever so slightly) possible: his son, Daniel, is playing with Benjamin 'B', more commonly known as Barcelona's U-10 squad.

Slovakia

Two here: Miroslav Stoch - one of the few Chelsea youth team products to play for the first team and not Vitesse Arnhem - and Vladimir Weiss, a winger who came through at Manchester City, only to be farmed out on loan to outposts such as Bolton, Espanyol and Rangers.

Germany

Although he has never played in the Premier League, we feel compelled to include Mario Gomez, included in the German squad as Jogi Loew was unwilling to give Marco Reus a chance to prove his fitness. His inclusion is an excuse to play this:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J5UjOL_2KI

See Also: The Ultimate Starting XI Of Players That Have Been Left Out Of Euro 2016

See Also: Here Are 7 Major Tournament 'Bolters' From The Past - Some Shone, Some Didn't

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