Five of the fanciest fancy dan wingers

You may have noticed a couple of fantastic football-themed flavours of McCoy's Crisps on the shelves of your local corner-store. So with McCoy's Chicken Winger in mind, we've taken a look at some of the fanciest wing-men in world soccer.

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Arjen Robben

We wouldn’t normally kick a man while he’s down but in Arjen Robben’s case, he tends to go down before he’s been kicked anyway.

This month the Dutchman was the unfortunate soul who took the most famous penalty miss in Bayern Munich’s storied history, having missed from a spot-kick against Chelsea’s Petr Cech in extra-time during the Champions League final.

The winger had a chance to redeem himself at the end of 120 minutes, however, when a penalty shoot-out offered Robben an opportunity to make-up for his miss.

Deciding instead to shirk his responsibilities as the club’s designated penalty taker, it was left to a motley crew that included Bayern’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to rescue the Bavarian’s fortunes before Chelsea’s Didier Drogba ultimately sealed their fate.

Two days later, Robben was rightly booed for his cowardly actions by his own fans in a friendly at the very same stadium as he lined up alongside his countrymen against Bayern. Harsh but fair, we reckon.

Robert Pires

Here’s a winger too chicken to take his own penalties, to the point that he recruited then-Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry for perhaps the most embarrassing moment in Premier League history.

Having taken the lead against a then-rubbish Manchester City in October 2005 through a penalty, Pires let nervousness get the better of him and lined up for the spot-kick before passing to striker Henry. Yes, that actually happened – see below:

However, Pires actually scuffed the pass and ended up conceding a free-kick, becoming a laughing stock in the process. Even Arsene Wenger could barely defend his player’s actions afterwards, explaining: "Robert was uncertain and scared to miss the penalty and he made a big mistake and a wrong decision.

"He was not lacking seriousness or respect - he was lacking confidence."

Nani

If there’s one thing you should never do at an Anfield-hosted clash between Liverpool and Manchested United – the Premier League’s most heated unofficial derby – it’s cry like a little Portuguese girl.

Yet that’s exactly what happened after Thriller-era Michael Jackson lookalike Nani crumbled (before getting back up to limp over to the referee, then falling over again) after an admittedly quite nasty challenge from Jamie Carragher to his left shin in the 2010/2011 season.

After a 3-1 defeat, let’s just hope that Fergie’s hairdryer treatment was enough to dry the winger’s eyes.

Gervinho

No we’re not referring to Arsenal winger Gervinho’s diabolical hairband that barely disguises the Ivorian’s hair loss (leading to a fair few comparisons to former baseball star Ken Griffey Jr’s enlarged head in The Simpsons), we’re talking about his country’s African Cup of Nation’s loss to Gabon.

Indeed it was Gervinho who fluffed the vital penalty that caused the Ivory Coast to fall 8-7 in a nail biting finish to the tournament.

If you’re wondering how the penalty scoreline was so high, it’s because every single player stepped up, with Gervinho chickening out until he was obliged to give it a go and consign his nation to another disappointing international campaign.

Venkys Chicken

Our final pick differs from all the rest in that he was brave, attempted to do his all for his team and eh… isn’t human.

With Steve Kean’s hapless Blackburn Rovers heading for Premier League relegation in a home tie against Wigan this month, they needed a miracle to turn the tide.

Even though the little guy was decked out in the blue and white colours of the club, Blackburn's Scottish manager cried fowl and instructed striker Yakubu to instead remove the chicken from the field.

Although the animal was considered a bizarre protest against the team’s Venkys owners, we reckon that Kean chickened out at the chance to see the super fan’s silky skills along the wings for Blackburn. If you ask us, it could have been poultry in motion.

McCoy's Crisps, the Man Crisps lads, have launched limited edition Chicken Winger and Sausage Striker flavours for Euro 2012. At the moment McCoy's are also giving away one brand new 3D-TV every day over here. That's every day!