The world knows Marc Cucurella for his long hair and his battles down the wing. Few know his most important battle, the one he fights away from the cameras.
When his son Mateo was just thirteen months old, Claudia, his partner, noticed that something was different. He did not respond to his name, he did not seek eye contact. At first, the doctors could not say what was happening. Marc put it plainly: “We came home crying every day.”
Then came the word that changed their lives: autism.
Another match began, one without a referee or an end: therapies, schools that did not work out, a child who became frustrated and cried because the world was not made to understand him. “An autistic child does not understand things like everyone else. You have to learn to understand him”, says the father.
And they learned. They moved to another country in search of the right school, took turns through sleepless nights, and supported each other when fear tightened its grip. “This either separates you or brings you together. We grew much closer”, Claudia says.
Today Cucurella is playing in a World Cup with Spain. But he said it better than anyone: every small step forward Mateo makes gives him more satisfaction than any victory.
Because there are men who win matches. And there are fathers who win something much greater: a child’s heart, one day at a time.
Thank you for showing it, Marc. 💙