"UEFA told me they had to change the rules because of me"

An unfortunate injury to Gaya, as he himself acknowledges, changed Marc Cucurella's role in the Spanish national team just a few months ago, when Luis de la Fuente appreciated his performance against Brazil. Since then, he has become a regular fixture at left-back, a position he will defend again in the World Cup qualifying phase. He spoke about this and more in his interview with 'AS' in the run-up to the matches against Bulgaria and Turkey.

A key player for Spain, despite the fact that defenders are not always valued. "In the end, people focus on the forwards. They turn on the TV and want to see the goalscorers... and I'm the first. I understand that those who vote - Ballon d'Or - do so for those who make the matches more entertaining, but a defender has won it before and it could happen again. Football has evolved a lot, especially with full-backs. Now you have to conquer territory, get forward, surprise. There are some very important full-backs, like Carvajal, who scored in the Champions League final and during the Euros," he acknowledged.

Cucurella tends to mark tightly: "I'm persistent and intense, but I'm not going to cause harm. That maybe makes me different - being a nuisance. It helps the team because it gives more freedom to my team-mates. I think I'm a team player and I like being one. The most annoying player I've faced? Maybe Dembele, the most difficult I've had so far. He's very fast and uses both feet, so he can go either way. I've struggled a lot against him because I didn't know how to stop him, although so far he hasn't left me exposed."

His handball in the European Championship against Germany has generated debate: "Yes, it's gone around the world. What's more, the UEFA officials came to give us a talk recently and used my handball against Germany as an example. They said that they had to change the rules because of me. It's fired at me from close range and the ball hits me, but I didn't want to hit it with my hand. Man, I would have been the most hated guy in Spain..."

Chelsea were world champions in the United States and Donald Trump was part of the celebrations on the pitch. "It was an experience. He stayed there to celebrate the title with us on the podium. We had been told that we couldn't celebrate until he left. The thing is, he wasn't leaving, he wanted to be with us. He even took the champion's medal, which I've seen he has in his White House office," he acknowledged.

And he gave his view on the notable difference between the middle-to-lower class teams in La Liga and those in the Premier League: "The distribution of money in England is greater. The teams that get promoted are given a lot of money, which in the end means that all the clubs can sign great players. It levels out the competition. Every match in the Premier League is a battle. Sunderland, who have just been promoted, have invested 200 million in players. Crystal Palace have signed two of the best players from La Liga, with Yeremy and Uche. This is something that needs to be solved because La Liga is falling behind the Premier League and it's causing players to go to England."