There are two ways to see the debut of Marc Cucurella (Barcelona, 28 years old). Being a picky eater, his first official appearance dates back to June 2021. Those with better memories will remember that, just before starting the Euro Cup postponed by Covid a year earlier, Busquets tested positive in the senior team, who lived in isolation in Las Rozas, and had to play a scheduled friendly against Lithuania with the U21s coached by Luis de la Fuente. That day counts for UEFA as a senior team, so technically his debut was there.
But his debut in an official match, it seems like a lie, was the day before yesterday, so to speak. It was in the first game of the Euro 2024 Championship. When everyone assumed that Grimaldo would be the starter, the coach opted for him, then at Chelsea and living off an irregular season. Since then, two years and two major titles in between, he is the undisputed owner of the national team's left back. And last Tuesday's game in Split shows that he is a special, different, unique player within the national team's ecosystem.
Aside from the obvious, he is an extraordinary defender, he also has that 'canchero' character that all groups need. 'Canchero' understood as a player with mischief, with that point of bad temper to handle other football situations. Cutting off a counterattack, making a foul, harassing the other team's good team, wasting time, faking an illness that is not such... Things that, whether you like it or not, are also football and help you win. The second yellow card for Perisic, until that moment a nightmare for Spain in Split, was no coincidence. Cucurella knew he had a yellow one and out of the corner of his eye he saw him coming from behind. It was crossed and the card was very clear.
"For me, the red one is clear. There has been contact, nothing to object to," he said in the mixed zone of the stadium with that beginning of a sentence that he always uses: "In the end...". Once the Croatian player was sent off, the Madrid full-back confronted the rival coach, Slaven Bilic, who after challenging the footballer spoke about him in the press room with a mixture of reproach and admiration. "Who is not angry with him if he is not on their team? I like him very much, he is a great player and a great person. I have seen the documentary he made about his son's situation and, I insist, I like him very much. He plays to defend his team, but of course he provokes."
From that minute on, the 32,000 Croatian fans began to whistle at him every time he touched the ball, a situation that has been repeated on several occasions with the player. Where it was most noticed was in Germany. There they do not forgive him for that famous hand shot by Musiala in the extra time of the quarterfinals of the Euro Cup, in 2024. After that he has gone to play in Germany twice. One with the national team, in the Nations League last year, and another with Real Madrid, in a friendly against Schalke. In both cases, every time he touched it they whistled at him. "I don't know, it wasn't my fault that they didn't give the penalty," he simply replied.
The other day, at Wembley, he also received some whistles for a clash with Bellingham, with whom he clashed despite being teammates. "In the end I'm not going to be able to leave Spain!" he said in that same mixed zone in Split, but it was a joke. "No, no! Just kidding! Nothing, it's normal for them to push because they are playing at home, in front of their people, with the stadium full. But nothing, nothing has happened. Odds of the job. Let's continue," he said.
Owner of 35 games and one goal (the one he scored against Bulgaria in the World Cup qualifying phase, since the one he scored against Saudi Arabia in Atlanta does not count, it was the Saudi footballer's own goal), Cucurella is trying to adapt his family life in Madrid, where at the moment he shines less than in the national team. "It's normal, we are a team that is starting a new project and that needs time. Here in the national team we have been with the same block and the same coach for a long time," he said in the preview of the match against Croatia.
If there are no injuries involved, the 'bad guy' from Spain is going to be one of the fixtures in the national team's return, which will be in November. They will play on the 12th against the Czech Republic in Prague and on the 15th at the Metropolitano against England. With four points, and maybe even three, depending on the goal average, they will be first in the group for the draw for the quarterfinals of this Nations League that will be played in March.
