Marc Cucurella hopes Cole Palmer, his Chelsea teammate, stays on the bench for Spain’s match against England in the final.
Cucurella claims he has been in contact with Palmer during Euro 2024. After a challenging season at Chelsea the previous year, the 25-year-old left-back has been crucial for Spain this summer, starting all but one of his country’s matches to reach Sunday’s spectacular.
Following his impressive performance in Spain’s semi-final match against France on Tuesday—La Roja’s sixth straight victory in the competition—Cucurella is most likely to stay in Luis de la Fuente’s starting lineup.
Spain have been far and away the most convincing team in Germany and enter their first major final in 12 years as the favourites to get their hands on the trophy.
Cucurella could come up against his club team-mate Palmer in Berlin, though the attacker – Chelsea’s Player of the Season – has so far been limited to substitute appearances by Gareth Southgate.
Palmer made a huge impact off the bench in the Three Lions’ semi-final victory over the Netherlands, though, providing the assist for Ollie Watkins’ stunning 90th-minute winner in Dortmund.
‘I spoke with him, but it was over a week ago. We talked for a while in the previous rounds,’ Cucurella told Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.
‘For me, it’s much better if he doesn’t play and stays on the bench.’
Cucurella said, “Today we had our first talk and we discussed it a bit,” in response to the question of whether De la Fuente had asked him for any inside knowledge on the players for England.
But Rodri, who is more knowledgeable about English football than I am, is with him.
I guess we might present him with alternative viewpoints if he is still unsure.
“We’re going to approach the game the same way we’ve approached the previous nine matches.” We stand a decent chance of winning if we perform to the best of our abilities.
While Cucurella has shone at the Euros and proven many of his doubters wrong, the full-back found himself the target of boos and jeers during Spain’s semi-final defeat of France in Munich – leaving many viewers confused.
It subsequently became evident that the culprits were not disgruntled French fans, rather neutral German supporters venting their anger after Cucurella escaped punishment for a shout of handball in last week’s quarter-final.
Asked whether he was surprised by the booing, Cucurella replied: ‘At first, yes, a little, because I didn’t really understand it.
‘But I quickly saw that there were a lot of people in white and I understood why.
‘Spending money to be in the semi-finals of the European Championship and then to boo… they could have given the ticket to someone who would have enjoyed the match.
“What matters is that we are in the final and those who were bored or angry are watching it at home.”
Cucurella’s girlfriend stated earlier this week that the Chelsea player had “promised” to color his hair a vivid red if Spain defeated England at the Olympiastadion.
“If, if, we succeed… “I can’t have red hair and play in a final,” he answered.
I’ve been considering how to avoid having red hair like the Little Mermaid character, but I have to do it. We’ll take action.