So in the end there WAS an Albion-related success at Euro 2024.

It just wasn’t the one we wanted.

It wasn’t Lewis Dunk amid England celebrations after playing his day-to-day part in what looked a very unified squad.

Not Bart Verbruggen making cup-winning saves in the final.

Not even triumph for the host nation with their two Seagulls who are wanted back in the Bundesliga.

Spain are rightful champions of Europe.

They were the best team across the tournament and the best in the final.

That doesn’t make another final defeat any easier to take on the receiving end.

After a few decades of waiting and wondering, you pretty much accept England will never win a major trophy.

Then a wave of hope briefly knocks you off balance and sweeps you along before disappearing back out to sea again.

Prepare yourself for it as much you like, the defeat still hurts when it happens.

The man who helped land the killer blow this time was one with an Albion connection.

It is maybe hard to remember now just how popular Marc Cucurella was in his season with the Seagulls.

But we have had a few recent reminders of how good he was.

Yes, his departure - how it happened and a couple of things he said - angered Albion fans.

It’s always a potentially awkward situation because, in the main, a player’s allegiance is to his own career, as was the case with Cucurella when he stopped training with Getafe and pushed through a move to Albion.

But it’s hard for a player to actually say that.

Some tread more carefully around that situation than others. Some are better advised than others.

But what about the good times?

Once Cucurella had been whacked in the face early in his debut at Brentford and got back to his feet, he was brilliant for Albion.

And fans loved him. Quick, competitive, consistent, great technique with a bit of flair and a lot of hair. Dependable and adaptable.

His best moment came in a 4-0 mauling of Manchester United.

It felt like Albion unlocked a new level in him during that season and one wonders whether he would be the player we saw at these Euros without that year of Premier League progress.

I can remember even then writing about whether he should be in the Spain squad.

The guidance from Spain was that he ranked behind Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso and Jose Gaya in Luis Enrique’s thinking.

I didn’t speak to Cucurella much until late in the campaign because, for most of that season, access to players was limited by post-Covid restrictions.

We were still working mainly via Zoom. The interview areas only re-opened in the final weeks of the season and I had my first face-to-face chat with him after the win at Tottenham.

But, when those chances came, he was easy and interesting to talk to and had a sense of humour.

Fans got a taste of that at awards night and lapped it up.

I’ve still got a snap on my phone from behind the scenes that night of him holding his two player of the year trophies. The star of the show.

And then he left. Not in a particularly good way, which might have also had something to do with people around him.

Albion fans turned on him and that anger only increased a few months later when Chelsea came back again to take the coaching team.

And then it seems like he had a tough time.

I don’t know what happened to Cucurella at Stamford Bridge.

I don’t watch Chelsea anywhere near enough to have an opinion on that.

His theatrics are annoying. We saw that in Chelsea's recent game at the Amex and again late in Sunday's final.

But the Cucurella we saw for Spain over recent weeks is the one we saw playing for Albion.

He will know how a big a part his season at the Amex played in that.

But one can't help feeling that first Prem year raised his level and raised his profile.

Unfortunately for England.