Spain defender Marc Cucurella mocks Gary Neville after winning UEFA Euro 2024

After Gary Neville pondered whether Spain might capture Euro 2024 with the left-back on the field, Marc Cucurella ended up getting the last laugh. While serving as an ITV pundit early in the competition, Neville made a remark implying that Cucurella was among the reasons he thought Spain would not win the European Championship.

Given that Cucurella was Spain's first-choice left-back during the tournament, such remarks proved to be inaccurate. He was among the Spanish team's top performers despite having a challenging season with Chelsea; in fact, he set up Mikel Oyarzabal's game-winning goal versus England in the title match.

After a group stage encounter of the UEFA Euro 2024 for Spain, Neville commented about Cucurella. He said that, “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 [but] the price tag still astounds everyone to this day.”

The former Manchester United full-back added, “The Spanish defence, it’s got a lot of experience now but there’s something just missing from Spain that makes you feel like they’re not going to go all the way. I have to say that him being at left-back is a good example of why we think that.”

“It speaks to the mentality of the team” : Manchester City midfielder Rodri 

While speaking to the media, Rodri spoke about the efforts of the Spain players in this tournament. He said, “In life and in sport, when you give your best effort and sacrifice yourself, you get the reward from everything you gave up to get there. We have made history. We have beaten four world champions (Italy, Germany, France and England) one after the other, the hardest way to win it. It speaks to the mentality of the team.

The Manchester City midfielder added, “This is something that was cultivated, many of us were Under-19, Under-21 champions together. The coach knew what he was doing. The coach knew what he was doing!”