MARC CUCURELLA wiped away tears as he revealed the emotional strain of his son’s autism.
Cucurella and partner Claudia Rodriguez opened up in .
The Chelsea left-back, 26, has three children with his – Mateo, Rio and Claudia.
Mateo was diagnosed with autism soon after completed his £65million transfer from Brighton to Stamford Bridge in 2022.
Now the Spanish couple have bravely shared how their son’s neurodevelopmental condition impacts family life.
Autism – especially in children – can make it difficult to process emotions and deal with changes, often prompting inconsolable tears.
The spectrum of symptoms also includes being over- or under-sensitive to senses, having repetitive behaviours or struggling socially.
Rodriguez said: “We saw that some things were different from the other kids.
“We didn’t find too much help from the school and we had our worst months.
“Every day we went together to drop Mateo off – I was pregnant with Rio as well – and we went back home every day crying.”;
As she said that, Cucurella broke down in tears.
Cucurella said: “Okay, your kid is autistic, but the parents are not ready with this so we need to learn a lot.
“When we speak about Mateo we always...”; before choking up and added: “Ask Claudia now, I will come back soon.”;
Rodriguez encouraged her boyfriend as “really sensitive”; about the whole situation.
Speaking on holiday, Rodriguez explained: “It’s a lot of changes in the same week.
“It’s difficult to be in other places, on another timetable, eating other food, on other plans with no school and no therapy. It’s hard for him.
“You have to think about Mateo all the time. Sometimes you want to do some things but we can’t because it’s not good for Mateo.
“.”;
The emotional video ends with Rodriguez consoling and hugging Cururella as he continues to cry while holding her hand.
The video – shared by Amazon Prime Video Sport – prompted a wave of classy replies from fans.
One said: “This was so beautiful to watch, Cucurella and his partner Claudia are great parents.”;
Another wrote: “Cucu is a strong man!”;
A third added: “Mad respect man, love him even more now.”;
A fourth typed: “Respect. You’re a truly extraordinary father. You’ re doing great.”;
And a final user commented: “I hope football fans are more empathetic to footballers going forward when they have a bad form. They are human beings too and they could be going through personal challenges at home.”;
Cucurella has enjoyed a superb season under Enzo Maresca for .
After helping Spain win Euro 2024, he has proven himself to be a brilliant inverted full-back – .
