"We decided to wait until we faced England" - Chelsea star Marc Cucurella opens up on how Gary Neville inspired Spain's Euro 2024 success

Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella has opened up on Gary Neville's criticism of him ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024. He said that while they wanted to reply to Neville earlier, they waited for Spain to win the competition to take a dig.

Ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024, former England defender Gary Neville said that Spain cannot win the tournament with the likes of Marc Cucurella in the side. La Roja, not only went on to win it, but the Chelsea star was also one of their best performers. Moreover, they beat England in the final to add salt to Neville's wounds.

Cucurella recently spoke about Neville's comments and how he asked his wife Claudia to wait until they win to react to the Englishman. He told Marca (via Tribal Football):

"I remember it well, it was before our first match. We sent the statement to the group from Claudia (his wife) and my agents. Claudia wanted to answer him straight away, but I told her to wait: it was too early. Then we went ahead in the tournament and we decided to wait until we faced England in the final to win and answer there.

"Right after the match we went on the attack. No, I didn't. Claudia did. She was like, 'Can I publish it now?' And I was like, 'Yeah, go ahead'.

"More than special, I also thought that if they had beaten us, I would not have been able to go back there. They would have spent the whole year making fun of me and saying everything. But it was the match where I was most relaxed, I felt that we would win. We already knew it was ours, and so it was."

It was Spain's fourth European Championship title while England's wait for one continues.

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What Gary Neville said about Chelsea's Marc Cucurella before Euro 2024 and how they responded

Ahead of Spain's first match at UEFA Euro 2024 against Croatia, Gary Neville criticized Marc Cucurella and said that he might cost La Roja. He said about the Chelsea star (via Mirror):

“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. That price tag still, to be fair, astounds everybody I think to this day.

"The Spanish defence has got a lot of experience now but there’s something just missing from Spain that makes you feel like they’re going to go all the way. And I have to say, him [Cucurella] being at left-back probably is another example of why we think that.”

Cucurella, however, won the title with Spain. After the win, his wife Claudia shared an image of the couple with the trophy and wrote in the caption:

“How was your night, @gneville2?”

The Chelsea man himself took a dig at the Manchester United legend, posting on social media:

“We went all the way Gary. Thanks for your support.”

Cucurella has been in decent form for Chelsea this season, registering two goals and two assists in 18 games across competitions.