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- England will face Spain in the final of Euro 2024 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Sunday
- Cucurella has had an impressive season at the back for De la Fuente’s men
Spain and Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has named one player in Gareth Southgate’s England squad, hoping he will remain on the bench when La Roja play the Three Lions in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday.
Tomorrow evening the two teams will face each other in Berlin. It promises to be an exciting conclusion to the tournament in Germany.
Cucurella impressed with his performances for Luis de la Fuente’s men, and was selected for his performances in the squad ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Alex Grimaldo at left back.
Ahead of the match at the Olympiastadion, the Blues defender said he had been in contact with teammate Cole Palmer, saying he hoped the talented youngster would not play a role in the match.
“I spoke to him, but that was more than a week ago. We spoke to him for a while in the previous rounds,” Cucurella told the Spanish publication Sports world.
Spain and Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has identified an England star he hopes will not feature in the Euro 2024 final
Cucurella has impressed under Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente (pictured) and will start in the final on Sunday
Cucurella believes Spain’s chances will increase if his Chelsea teammate Cole Palmer remains on the bench for the match
‘For me it’s much better if he doesn’t play and stays on the bench.’
After a stunning debut season at Stamford Bridge, Palmer has been forced to make do with a bit part during England’s Euro campaign, but he has still managed to make some telling contributions.
The 22-year-old converted England’s opening penalty in their quarter-final win over Switzerland with conviction, before providing a superb assist for Ollie Watkins’ winning goal in the 90th minute of the semi-final.
The England-Spain match will feature a number of team-mates from the club, with Cucurella revealing that De la Fuente has sought advice from some of his Premier League players.
“Today we had our first conversation and we talked about it a bit,” he added. “But he has Rodri, who knows more about English football than I do.
“I think if he has doubts, we can give him another point of view.
“We’re going to approach the game as we’ve approached every other game so far. If we play at our best, we’ve got a good chance of winning.”
Spain go into the final as favourites after sweeping away all challengers on the road to Berlin. The 25-year-old full-back is one of the stars who has impressed in Germany.
He drew the ire of many home fans for his involvement in a controversial penalty decision during Spain’s quarter-final win over Germany last week, which resulted in the Germans booing La Roja’s semi-final against France.
The defender has drawn the ire of the Germans after his involvement in the controversial penalty decision against the home side last week.
“At first, yes, a little bit, because I didn’t really understand it,” he said. “But I soon saw that there were a lot of people in white and I understood why.
‘Spending money to be in the semi-finals of the European Championship and then booing… they could have given the ticket to someone who would have enjoyed the match.
“The most important thing is that we are in the final and the people who were angry or bored are watching at home.”