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FourFourTwo
Sport
Mark White

Chelsea star hounded in Spain v France with whistles and boos - from GERMAN fans

A general view of the inside of the stadium as players of Spain and France line up on the pitch prior to the UEFA EURO 2024 Semi-Final match between Spain and France at Munich Football Arena on July 09, 2024 in Munich, Germany. .

Poor Marc Cucurella. When the Chelsea star first touched the ball during Spain vs France in the semi-final of Euro 2024, he must have wondered what he'd done to upset the French.

The left-back has been polarising at club level since his move to the Blues, while some were surprised that Cucurella earned a slot in Luis de la Fuente's XI ahead of Bayer Leverkusen star Alex Grimaldo. 

Every time the 25-year-old gets on the ball, he's jeered, whistled and booed. But not by the French fans, at all: it's by Germans, who are angry with Cucurella for handling the ball in the penalty area against them in the quarter-final. Anthony Taylor didn't give it, by the way, as if you had to ask. 

You've seen them given, right? (Image credit: Getty Images)

With both sides looking particularly sharp in attack, it was the French who drew blood first with a Randal Kolo Muani header breaking the deadlock in the first 10 minutes. 38-year-old right-back Jesus Navas dropped far too deep against Kylian Mbappe, allowing the mercurial forward to whip a ball onto the head of his former Paris Saint-Germain team-mate.

The winner of this one takes a place in Sunday's final.

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