Marc Cucurella left former Manchester United defender Gary Neville red-faced following his performance for Spain against Croatia.
The Chelsea full-back will not have stole the headlines as Spain’s attacking flair took hold in their opening Euro 2024 victory, but he delivered a performance that acted as the perfect response to Neville’s pre-match assessment. Goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal ensured three points for the 2008 and 2012 European champions on Saturday afternoon.
Pundit Neville, working for ITV, pointed to Cucurella’s place in the team in assessing why Spain may not be among the favourites to be successful in this year’s competition. The 49-year-old was not too kind to Chelsea’s £60million signing.
“I didn’t think he’d play,” Neville s.aid. “He’s not been convincing at Chelsea, 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, that price tag still astounds every body, I think, still to this day.”
“The Spanish defence has a lot of experience now, obviously, he added. “But there’s something just missing from Spain that makes you feel like they’re going to go all the way, and I have to say him being at left-back is another example of why we think that.”
On Saturday, Cucurella did his talking on the pitch. While he may not have quite shown why the Blues spent such a sum to sign him, he definitely left an impression.
A goal-saving block in the 55th-minute capped off an outing that saw him win each of his aerial duels and tackles over the course of the game. Lee Dixon on commentary even remarked: “He’s had a good game today. I’m not his biggest fan but he’s done well.”
The 25-year-old proved himself worthy of a spot in Luis de la Fuente’s starting XI. Cucurella earned just his fourth cap as Spain kept a clean sheet, having only made his debut for the nation in March of this year.
The Spaniard started ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Alex Grimaldo to make his competitive debut.
