Featured Image Credit: ITV
Topics: Marc Cucurella, Spain, Football, Germany, Euro 2024
Ben McCrum
The reason why Spain star Marc Cucurella has been booed by fans during the Nations League final with Portugal has been revealed.
On Sunday night, reigning Nations League champions Spain lined up to defend their title against Portugal in the final at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Going into the match, Spain, who beat France in a thrilling 5-4 semi final, were the heavy favourites thanks to the fantastic form of star players like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams this season.
Unlikely hero Martin Zubimendi opened the scoresheet in the match, before Nuno Mendes scored his first international goal to equalise until Mikel Oyarzabal restored his side's lead shortly before half time.
Advert
However, the biggest moment of the first half was not about the goals, but instead centred around Chelsea defender Cucurella, who was booed throughout the match, and now we know why.
With the final taking place in one of the biggest cities in Germany, thousands of locals are in attendance to watch two of Europe's best teams compete in a thrilling final.
And it is these local fans that are booing Cucurella anytime he touches the ball, as they remember the defender's actions during Spain's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Germany last summer.
During extra time of cagey match, the Chelsea left-back appeared to block a shot on goal with his hand, but shockingly the moment did not lead to the home side being awarded a penalty.
Just 12 minutes later, Arsenal star Mikel Merino scored a last minute winning goal for Spain, and it's clear that German supporters have not forgotten the brutal disappointment from the match.
This disappointment was only made worse two months later as an official statement from UEFA confirmed that the referee had made a major error in the moment, and that Germany should have been awarded a penalty, and a chance to take the lead, due to the incident.
It reads “Following the latest UEFA guidelines, hand-to-ball contact that stops a shot on goal should be punished more strictly, and in most cases a penalty kick should be awarded, unless the defender’s arm is very close to the body or in contact with the body.
"In this case [Cucurella], the defender stops the shot on goal with his arm, which is not very close to the body, making himself bigger, so a penalty kick should have been awarded.”
Had Germany been given and scored the penalty, it is very possible that they would have held on to their lead and progressed to the semi-final where they would have faced France and almost certainly been favourites to win the tournament.