Nations League final in Munich: Angry Germans boo Cucurella mercilessly

Marc Cucurella is met with a sustained chorus of boos as soon as he touches the ball at the Nations League finals. Spectators in Stuttgart and Munich still accuse the Spanish defender of his handball in the European Championship quarterfinal against Germany a year ago.

Marc Cucurella's handball in the quarterfinals of the 2024 European Football Championship has long since become legendary. With the score at 1-1 in extra time, he took a shot from Jamal Musiala, but the German team's penalty calls went unanswered. Referee Anthony Taylor didn't blow his whistle, and the video assistant didn't intervene. A short time later, Mikel Merino scored to make it 2-1, and the German team was eliminated after extra time. Even a year later, the anger over this has clearly not subsided among many German football fans.

This is evident at the Nations League finals, which are being held in Stuttgart and Munich. A significant number of people have bought tickets for the Spanish matches and feel it necessary to boo Cucurella at every opportunity: during warm-ups, during the lineup announcements, at every touch of the ball. There seem to be rows of angry Germans in the stands who have nothing better to do than to punish the Spanish defender with the distinctive curly hair with their contempt.

This was evident in the European champions' spectacular 5:4 semi-final victory against France in Stuttgart, and now also in the final against Portugal in Munich. Hundreds of people therefore consider it appropriate to spend their evenings booing a footballer. Cucurella, with some distance from that handball at the European Championship, even admitted that a penalty would have been the logical choice – but the incorrect decision on that fateful evening was not in his hands. But that's no longer the point anyway. Especially since UEFA admitted: The referee should have pointed to the spot.

The 26-year-old defender was at least prepared for the anger he would face in the run-up to the Nations League finals. He was "prepared," he said before the semifinal: "It's part of football, I didn't do anything wrong." Because, as mentioned, the wrong decision in the European Championship quarterfinals was made by Anthony Taylor's refereeing team. But facts probably won't help those who let their anger drive them in the stands anyway.