Cucurella: "Nobody is thinking about the holidays, we want to finish this off".
Marc Cucurella is one of the names on everyone’s lips this summer. His performances at the European Championship have been outstanding, his effort and commitment on the Spanish left flank is priceless and his energy and optimism are vital and contagious to anyone watching on from the stands. He is in all of us and believes, he says it with conviction, that Spain has every reason to think about a happy ending in Germany. Of course, for that to happen, they first have to beat France in the semi-finals this Tuesday, something that will be no easy task.
As it was not easy to defeat Germany in Stuttgart, relying on that heavenly leap from Mikel Merino when the clock struck 119 minutes. Marc Cucurella played an active role in that move, which ended in the silencing of the German fans. "Carvajal passed it to me and I gave it to Dani. He could give it to me or I could also take a player away with my movement so he could do something else. It came off perfectly.
And there were moments of suffering, a lot of suffering. Germany equalised when the national team was almost at the finishing line and that blow was very hard to take. "The referee blew the final whistle and we had that moment to disconnect, to talk to our teammates. The gaffer gave us a pep talk and I think that's when we reconnected," said Cucurella.
The extra time was a clear demonstration that this Spain squad are all pulling in the same direction, with all of Luis de la Fuente's players committed to the common goal. "We had to give everything. We knew that there were penalties to come, there wasn’t long left, and in the end it was like the last effort. Either you put in the last effort or we could be on holiday. We should have finished the job earlier, not to suffer so much, but it also tastes better like this. We suffered a lot, but it makes the team more united. We celebrate it, the joy it gives us makes us keep growing and keep helping each other create a better team".
Of course, only with a winning plan can you contemplate beating France, which has a world beating star like Kylian Mbappé. "As a player I think he is one of the best in the world, he is decisive. And we will have to be very attentive to him. He's a player who doesn't seem to be there, but he can change the game in a second. It's a complicated task, but in the end we have a very strong and solid team. If we work together I think we can stop him and we can beat France."
The left side of the national team has a huge defender like the Catalan and Nico Williams in attack, a terrifying tandem in anyone's book. "His mission is to attack and mine is to defend, we have a great understanding. He is a very cheerful guy, and so am I. We connect well. He has a lot of qualities. He knows that I'm going to give everything for him and he gives everything for me, those little connections make the team stronger.
Cucurella is walking on clouds, but although things feel dreamy, everything is the result of hard work and there are even those who compare him to Carles Puyol, one of the legends of the history of Spanish football. "He is a legend. What we have in common is that he gave everything for the team, he fought all the time, and I have that. I'm happy that these comparisons are being made, he was a great player and is part of the history of Spanish football. I hope I can be like him someday and have a similar career.
Puyol won everything in red and Cucurella is two steps away from getting his hands on silverware with the national team, so he allows himself to dream. "That joy of knowing that we are in the semi-finals, that we have two games to win the title, which is what we came for. We are very happy and content. We've already endured the last week, no one is thinking about the holiday, we want to finish this off. We have had a nice month, but also a hard one, we are far away from our families. And it would be a good end to the season. If we finish with this trophy it would be something very nice, we would make a lot of people enjoy it".