“Do you want to play football or party with your friends?” was the tough question asked by teenager Mark Kucurea by his father, Oscar, after he returned home late the night before practice. That one question from his father changed Kucurea forever.
The Spanish left-back admitted his mistake and said he wanted to play football. Now in his 25s, Kocurea believes that turning point in his life is what brought him to where he is today.
The story of Cucureira’s rise to the top of world football from a middle-class family in Alella, a small coastal town near Barcelona, Spain, is quite dramatic. His father, working in a car showroom, told a customer that his 8-year-old son always had the ball at his feet.
It was that buyer who suggested that Cucurella try out for Espanyol’s youth team, which changed his entire life.