Finally handed the keys to Spain’s midfield at a major tournament, Rodri Hernandez has driven the side to the verge of Euro 2024 glory.
La Roja are bidding for a record fourth Euros triumph against England in Sunday’s Berlin final and Rodri is both the engine and the brains behind the competition’s strongest side to this point.
After Luis Enrique used Rodri at centre-back at the 2022 World Cup with veteran Sergio Busquets still the first choice defensive midfielder, coach Luis de la Fuente has installed Rodri in his best position.
“We have Rodri, who is a perfect computer, he administers everything, the emotions, all the moments in a magisterial way — that’s a great help for everyone,” said De la Fuente after Spain’s 4-1 last-16 win over Georgia.
Spain fell behind in the match and a pivotal moment, not just against Georgia but in their whole Euros campaign, came midway through the first half.
With his team trailing and rattled, Rodri stopped with the ball in the middle of the pitch and issued his team-mates a message of calm, urging them not to lose their heads and keep following through with their plan.
“Sometimes 20 or 30 seconds of telling people to ‘calm down’ is more productive than going back on the attack,” explained Rodri after the game.
“I thought in that moment that was what I had to do.”
It was Spain’s organiser-in-chief who scored the equaliser before the break to put La Roja back on track as the minnows’ defence crumbled.
Falling behind was the first of a series of pressure moments which have hardened Spain on the way to the final, proving the mental strength of what was already the tournament’s most entertaining and dangerous side.
They conceded a late equaliser against hosts Germany to go to extra-time in the quarter-finals but pulled through. Rodri was vital in orchestrating Spain’s second half ball-hogging against France in the semi-final which prevented Les Bleus from battling back.
‘The main man’
With just one defeat in his last 79 matches for club or country, the 28-year-old has proven his Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola correct in saying he is the “complete” midfielder.
Former City team-mate Ilkay Gundogan has recalled the studious Rodri’s long chats with Guardiola after training, always looking to improve.
Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal even begged the former Atletico Madrid man to come back to the Spanish capital and join Los Blancos.
“I tell him every day to come to Madrid,” Carvajal said on Spanish radio station Cope this week.
“I say to him ‘leave Manchester, there’s no sun there, and come to Madrid, we need you…’
“He would be the perfect signing, no doubt.”
However, Rodri maintains he is happy under Guardiola at City where his growth has been continuous.
He helped the Premier League club to their first Champions League triumph in 2023, scoring the decisive goal, while also winning four league titles since joining from Atletico in 2019.
At 6-foot-3 (1.90 metres) and boasting a steely frame, Rodri has brought Spain’s ‘Busquets role’ into the modern era and helped revive a nation in the footballing doldrums for much of the decade since their Euro 2008 and 2012 wins and 2010 World Cup.
England fear Rodri could run the game in the same way Italy’s Jorginho pulled the strings as the Three Lions finished runners-up in the Euro 2020 final.
“He dictates games with the way he plays, I feel like Rodri is the main man for them,” said Ollie Watkins on Friday, whose late goal against the Netherlands sent England to the final.
The Aston Villa striker recalled the last Euro final in 2021.
“I can remember watching the Italy game and Jorginho I felt was a crucial player for them in the last Euros final,” Watkins said.
“If we can stop the ball from getting into him, it makes our life a lot easier… but it’s never that simple with a world-class player like him.”
Spain, by contrast, will do everything in their power to ensure Rodri is at the wheel this time around.
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