Tottenham defender Pedro Porro has been omitted from the Spain squad for this summer’s European Championship, but Chelsea rival Marc Cucurella has made the initial cut.
Spurs wing-back Porro was among the most high-profile absentees from a 29-man provisional group for Euro 2024 named on Monday by La Roja head coach Luis de la Fuente, which will need to be trimmed down to 26 players by the final June 7 squad deadline.
The 24-year-old has continued to impress in his first full season at Tottenham, having originally joined the club on loan from Sporting CP last January before a £39million clause to make the move permanent was triggered in the summer.
Porro continued as a mainstay of the Spurs side under Ange Postecoglou, scoring four goals and providing seven assists in 37 appearances across all competitions as he missed only three Premier League matches in total.
Such consistently impressive form earned him a recall to the Spain side for the most recent March internationals, with Porro starting and playing for 90 minutes of the 1-0 friendly defeat by Colombia at West Ham’s London Stadium. He was an unused substitute for the subsequent six-goal thriller against Brazil in Madrid.
The second of Porro’s three senior caps to date came in the Euro qualifying defeat by Scotland at Hampden Park last March, having made his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Georgia back in March 2021 and been selected for the 2021 Uefa Nations League finals without making an appearance.
Porro’s omission from even Spain’s provisional squad will come as a shock, though Cucurella will hope to make the final cut after fighting back from criticism and injury to play an important role during Chelsea’s late-season resurgence under the now-departed Mauricio Pochettino.
Cucurella made only his second senior Spain appearance and first for almost three years against Brazil at the Bernabeu in March, having made his debut as captain in a friendly against Lithuania back in June 2021 after a Covid-19 outbreak saw Spain field an under-21 team for that match.
Cucurella is one of three Premier League-based players in Spain’s provisional Euros squad, alongside Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and influential Manchester City midfielder Rodri, with no place either for the likes of 24-cap Aston Villa centre-back Pau Torres.
The inclusion of uncapped Barcelona starlet Fermin Lopez was among the other notable headlines, with fellow Nou Camp teenagers Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi also called up along with Ferran Torres but the likes of Gavi and Alejandro Balde both out with injuries.
Former Leicester forward Ayoze Perez, meanwhile, was handed his first call-up aged 30 after an impressive run of form in LaLiga with Real Betis.
Instead of Porro, De La Fuente has opted for 38-year-old Jesus Navas as a right-back option alongside Real Madrid stalwart Dani Carvajal, with Girona’s Miguel Gutierrez also missing out along with the likes of Marco Asensio and Sergio Ramos.
Three-time winners Spain have been placed in Group B at Euro 2024, the so-called ‘Group of Death’. They begin their campaign against Croatia in Berlin on June 15 before meeting Italy in Gelsenkirchen on June 20 and Albania in Dusseldorf on June 24.
