Spain‘s latest Euro champion, Marc Cucurella, responded swiftly to Gary Neville’s criticism.
“We went all the way, Gary. Thanks for your support,” posted the Chelsea left-back on Instagram.
What did Gary Neville say about Cucurella?
The British pundit belittled Cucurella early in the tournament: “I think he [Cucurella] is one of the reasons I think Spain can’t go all the way.” Nice swipe, Gary.
Cucurella’s response spoke loudly in his performance on the pitch. The defender’s splendid tournament capped off his contribution in Spain’s title-clinching goal.
The Spaniard completed the game with 92% pass accuracy, squaring the ball to teammate Mikel Oyarzabal for the 86th-minute touch-in. “That is legitimately the best pass of Cucurella’s career,” posted a cheery @KieryDoyle on X.
Cucurella also shut down English pundit Jamie Carragher with a top-tier guarded performance against his England counterpart Bukayo Saka.
“I think Saka can have [Cucurella] on toast, don’t worry about that,” said Carragher before the match.
“I’ve seen that so often in the Premier League. We’ve seen it before, he gives him huge problems. And not just Cucurella – he’s given almost every left-back huge problems in this tournament and he’s probably been England’s best performer.”
Cucurella, quite visibly, had the final word and more. He won a trophy in his first tournament appearance for Spain and played an invaluable part in the country’s deserving triumph. He’ll have to find a way to deliver tantamount performances at Chelsea next season.
Photo: x/tunnykvng, cucurella3
