Marc Cucurella has had the last laugh after Gary Neville questioned whether Spain could win Euro 2024 with the left-back on the pitch.
Neville made the comment earlier in the tournament while working as a pundit for ITV, when he suggested Cucurella was one of the reasons why he felt Spain could not win the Euros.
That turned out to be wide of the mark: Cucurella was Spain’s first-choice left-back for the tournament despite enduring a difficult season with Chelsea, and he was one of the Spanish team’s best players, even providing the assist for Mikel Oyarzabal’s winning goal against England in the final.
Afterwards, Cucurella posted Neville’s quote on Instagram alongside the caption: “We went all the way Gary. Thanks for your support,” accompanied by loveheart, trophy and Spanish flag emojies.
Neville had offered some praise of the 25-year-old defender, who moved from Brighton to Chelsea in an eye-watering £62m transfer two summers ago, but said he was a reason to doubt Spain’s trophy challenge.
“He’s not been convincing at Chelsea,” Neville said during the group stage. “He’s played a few games towards the end of the season. He’s aggressive, he’s tenacious, he’s a busy little full back [but] the price tag still astounds everyone to this day.
“The Spanish defence, it’s got a lot of experience now but there’s something just missing from Spain that makes you feel like they’re not going to go all the way. I have to say that him being at left-back is a good example of why we think that.”
Cucurella was one of the brightest lights of Spain’s campaign and credited his performances to his diligent work ethic during an underwhelming spell at club side Chelsea.
A team full of under the radar players with uplifting stories that ground out seven wins in seven matches playing a mostly attacking game at a tournament in which most of the big favourites left under criticism for underwhelming performances.
Spain’s two opening wins enabled coach Luis de la Fuente to make 10 changes for the final group game against Albania and the stand-ins did not miss a beat as they carved out a 1-0 win.
They had the perfect leader in coach Luis de la Fuente, the man who was mocked on social media as “Luis de la Who?” after his appointment last year, being little known after toiling away at the country’s academy level for over a decade.
He had the chance to work with over half of the players he took to Germany, with names like Rodri, Olmo, Merino, Oyarzabal and Fabian, who had played big roles under his calm guidance in the Under-19 and Under-21 European Championship in 2015 and 2019 respectively, now repeating that success in the senior squad.
“In life and in sport, when you give your best effort and sacrifice yourself, you get the reward from everything you gave up to get there,” Rodri told Spain’s TVE.
“We have made history. We have beaten four world champions (Italy, Germany, France and England) one after the other, the hardest way to win it. It speaks to the mentality of the team.
“This is something that was cultivated, many of us were Under-19, Under-21 champions together. The coach knew what he was doing. The coach knew what he was doing!”
Additional reporting by Reuters