Cucurella: “If we win, I will paint myself red”

You play for Chelsea and you know England very well. Did the coach ask you about your opponent?

Today we had the first conversation, we went up a little bit. But he has Rodri, who knows more about football than I do. I think if he has doubts, we can give him different views. We will approach the game very well, as we always have. If we are at our level, we will have a good chance to win.

What interests you most about England?

The quality of its players. I think individually, name by name, they are all top players and with certain actions or with certain isolated actions they can change the game. But we have played against top teams, they all have their stars, so it is more up to us, to control everything. If we have the ball, it’s very difficult for them to hurt us.

You and Palmer have a good relationship, have you been challenged these days?

Yes, we talked, but it was a week ago. In previous rounds we talked for a while. For me, it’s better that he doesn’t play and he’s on the bench.

There is a headline that bothers you. In an interview he gave these days, he said: “If we reach the final, I will paint myself red.”

Now, now, now… I have no other solution but to say that.

So far we can see that it has not been colored.

If we win, if we win… I can’t go out to play in the red final. I have to do it and I’m thinking of a way so that I don’t have red like the Little Mermaid here. We will do something, that’s all.

And another phrase that bothers him is from Gary Neville, an English commentator and former player, who said Spain can’t win the Euros because it has a problem on the left side.

Without further ado. In England it’s very common, but they become players and have those experiences, I don’t think it’s necessary to be disrespectful just to have views or for people to recognize him or keep hearing his name. These are the things that happen, I think we have one last step left and hopefully we can raise that glass. Then it’s our turn to speak.

Come on, positively, he is one of the great idols of the fans. In every game they mention his name.

I’m so happy, so proud. It was hard, a long road to get here and for people to get to know a little bit more about the player that I am or what I contribute. And it’s in a Euro Cup, I don’t think you can ask for more.

There are many jokes in the team’s WhatsApp group about memes, but people are also comparing him for his driving to Puyol. Coming out of Barça’s quarry, is it a source of pride?

Yes, yes, absolutely. Couldn’t be better. There is a lot of work in the shadows, in silence, no one bets on me. I knew what I had to do, what I was capable of, and I did it little by little until the time came. It makes me happy and makes people happy and it’s great that they recognize your work in this way with those compliments.

And the boos the other day against France, were you surprised?

At first yes, a little, because I didn’t understand too much either. But I quickly saw that there were many in white and I understood why. But spending money, being in the semi-finals of the Euro Cup, and going to boo… They can give the ticket to someone who enjoyed the game. The important thing is that we are in the final and people who are angry or bored are watching it from home.

If you don’t know, the German press condemned the beating and asked the Germans to go to the final, at least to cheer them on.

Yes, yes, very good. Honestly, I don’t care, it didn’t affect me or anything. Also when I meet some Germans, they apologize. I tell them nothing will happen. They realize that it is not right or what they are doing is not good.