WHAT HAPPENED?
In an interview with The Athletic, Cucurella explained he is already well aware of Saka’s qualities because of how much he watches the 22-year-old in an Arsenal shirt. In a basic sense, the plan is to never allow Saka to play his own game unchecked. Cucurella also thinks Spain might have to be wary of Palmer, who hasn’t played much this summer but has still had an impact.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Cucurella has emerged as one of the stars of the tournament at Euro 2024, a little surprisingly so considering a difficult couple of years at Chelsea. But he’s consistently come out on top in duels with wingers like Ousmane Dembele, Leroy Sane and Federico Chiesa as Spain have progressed through the rounds.
WHAT CUCURELLA SAID ABOUT MARKING SAKA
Cucurella said: “I know how Saka plays. I don’t really need to watch a lot of footage as I normally watch all the Arsenal games. It is so tough to mark him, but those challenges are nice for me. Playing against rivals of such quality is nice, I’m sure we both can’t wait for it.
“My main target is to make him feel uncomfortable. I also think that the game’s script will depend a lot on Spain and how we play, rather than what England do. If we dominate the ball as we’ve done and stay aware of the high pressure and everything we need to do to avoid counter-attacks, we’ll have plenty of chances to win.”
WHAT CUCURELLA SAID ABOUT PALMER’S QUALITY
“His football brain works so quickly, he is always a step ahead of the rest,” Cucurella said of Chelsea colleague Palmer. “His decision-making is almost always excellent, and that sort of intelligence is the most difficult thing to defend against, you just can’t predict what he’ll do next. I’ve suffered a lot in training.
“He reminds me a lot of Lamine Yamal. Same style of player. He is a guy who does not care too much about anything. They don’t take life or themselves too seriously. If you ran into Palmer in the streets, you would never tell he is a footballer. But then he plays and… oof.”
WHAT NEXT FOR CUCURELLA?
Cucurella is one day away from the biggest game of his career. This summer has been a first senior international tournament for the 25-year-old, but his performances over the last few weeks in Germany could cement his place in this Spain team for the foreseeable future.
Source goal.com
