CHELSEA star Marc Cucurella admits he “wet my pants” when he handled the ball in Spain’s Euro 2024 quarter final against Germany.
Cucurella stopped Jamal Musiala’s goalbound shot with an outstretched arm when the score was 1-1 early in the second half of extra time.
But English referee Anthony Taylor did not award a penalty.
The Chelsea left back said: “Mamma mia, what a shock. I wet my pants.
“I looked at the referee and saw him say firmly: ‘No penalty!’
“I told myself, ‘Relax’, but I couldn’t do that until the game resumed.”
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VAR Stuart Attwell chose not to intervene, much to the fury of the German players, crowd and media.
Cucurella and Spain got away with it, and Mikel Merino, now of Arsenal, grabbed a late winner for Luis de la Fuente’s side, who went on to beat England in the final.
In September, Uefa’s Referee Committee ruled Germany should have been awarded a spot kick.
But that was no consolation for the host nation and also left Cucurella bemused.
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He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “And now they come and say it was a penalty. Who benefits from that?”
Uefa said both Taylor and Attwell were at fault.
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The RC report said: “Following the latest UEFA guidelines, hand-to-ball contact that stops a shot on goal should be punished more strictly, and in most cases, a penalty kick should be awarded, unless the defender’s arm is very close to the body or on the body.
“In this case, the defender [Cucurella] stops the shot on goal with his arm, which is not very close to the body, making itself bigger, so a penalty kick should have been awarded.”
Cucurella was booed for the rest of the tournament by German fans, but had the last laugh when Spain were crowned European champions.
Meanwhile, Cucarella has sparked a banter battle of “Stamford Fringe” – with an odd comment about Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer’s hair.
The wing-back said of Palmer: “There’s not much strength in the hair, but if that’s his only problem, then he’s all right.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
