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“I’m not that bad,” Rodri Hernández says. It’s nan greeting aft nan World Cup’s 100th crippled and successful a convention room astatine nan Cotton Bowl wherever aged posters statement nan walls and Spain are astir to commencement their penultimate training convention earlier nan 101st, their skipper is doing nan calculations. Even pinch nan six he’s played successful and each nan travel, from Atlanta to Guadalajara and Dallas to Los Angeles and back, 9,000 miles truthful far, he reckons he’s watched nan “immense majority”. More than anyone other here, anyway. “Some arsenic a fan, teams we can’t face; others I analyse. But it’s not for illustration I’m location pinch pen and paper,” he says. Then he cracks up and concedes: “But, yeah, I astir apt americium nan worst.”
They wouldn’t person it different way; he couldn’t have it immoderate different way. This is who Rodri is: Ballon d’Or winner and business postgraduate from Castellón University. The kid who was connected campy successful nan Connecticut woods, aged 14, erstwhile Spain past won nan World Cup and nan skipper who aspires to assistance nan trophy again, backmost successful nan USA 16 years on. The midfielder who sometimes seems for illustration a de facto coach, analysing everything. The big successful nan room, a leader alert of his responsibility. When Rodri talks, they listen. Sometimes they person to. And, oh, Rodri talks, a calm authority astir him.
A 100 games in, location are conclusions to beryllium drawn. The shot is fast, nan pitches perfect, nan stadiums incredible. And, supra all, he says, unusually nan 4 semi-finalists are really nan champion teams here. “England v Argentina will beryllium very, very close, 2 very different styles of football, but I would alternatively attraction connected ours,” he says, truthful he does. “France are 1 of nan champion teams here, successful awesome form, but truthful are Spain. We tin hit them, we’ve seen that astatine nan Euros and successful nan Nations League.”
Like Tuesday’s crippled successful Dallas, some of those were semi-finals. Last summer, Spain hit France 5-4 successful nan Nations League, which makes it sound person than it really was: nan selección led 5-1 pinch 11 minutes left. The summertime before, Spain hit France 2-1 astatine Euro 2024. The omens get moreover better: nan first clip Rodri won thing pinch Spain – nan 2015 Under-19 Euros – they hit France successful nan semi-final too. He and Mikel Merino were midfield partners that time successful Katerini, Greece. Unai Simon was connected nan bench. Luis de la Fuente was coach. “Luis hasn’t changed astatine all,” Rodri says. “That’s wherever he began to build everything we spot now.”
Rodri was 19 then; he is 30 now. This hasn’t been an easy play aliases tournament. It hasn’t been for illustration nan Euros, wherever Spain blew everyone distant from nan start, but Rodri trusts that things are coming together astatine nan correct time. That includes him: he admits that, pursuing nan torn cruciate that forced him to hobble disconnected nan transportation astatine half-time successful nan Euros last successful nan summertime of 2024 and hobble connected to nan shape pinch crutches to cod nan Ballon d’Or that autumn, past play was astir becoming himself again. Grateful for Manchester City’s understanding, slow improving since arriving here, now he believes he is there.
“I consciousness bully and I’m happy astir nan team’s growth, which is truthful important astatine tournaments,” Rodri says. “We’ve sewage nan consciousness of things arsenic we went, and now we’re successful a bully moment. I spot a squad that’s arsenic competitory arsenic [they were] astatine nan Euros. The shape group were successful [when we arrived] is different, nan beingness condition. That’s why I kept saying it would beryllium a agelong tournament, that we would person to ‘chew’ connected it, go a bully type of ourselves. We tin spot that now. If we tin proceed this progression, we tin scope our level but what I would underline is really competitory this squad is.
“France person awesome attacking qualities, but I’d besides item their protect strength. They take sides good successful a debased block, they’re very physical, very aggressive. We’ll person to return nan crippled to wherever we want it. It’s uncommon for immoderate crippled to decorativeness 5-4 for illustration past twelvemonth and we can’t let that to fool us, to deliberation this will beryllium thing it won’t. If only it could beryllium for illustration that! But I don’t deliberation it will be. We’ll spot a stronger team, harder to people against. World Cups are different. And I don’t cognize that an unfastened game, a back-and-forth for illustration that, suits us. We’ll person to power more. This is simply a large situation against 1 of nan teams playing nan champion and we’re looking guardant to it.”
One man – 1 kid – near a immense people connected those matches and seems destined to do truthful again. Lamine Yamal was 16 erstwhile he scored an outrageous extremity successful nan semi-final arsenic Spain went connected to beryllium crowned European champions. He was 17 past summer, erstwhile he scored doubly much against France to scope nan Nations League final. Tipped to beryllium the prima this summer, his effect hasn’t been truthful explosive here, truthful far. He keeps saying his clip is coming, arsenic if trying to person himself too. On Monday, nan time earlier facing France again, he turns 19.
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“At 19, I would beryllium successful halls astatine university,” Rodri says. “There would beryllium nan occasional small statement that I couldn’t perchance show you about.” He is laughing now, but there’s a superior constituent to beryllium made: astir exposure, pressure, expectation. At Lamine Yamal’s age, nan Euros Rodri won was nan Under-19s, successful beforehand of 3,812 people. He hadn’t made his Villarreal debut. Each time he would lug his motorcycle connected to nan section train to caput from lectures to practice. His classmates didn’t cognize he was a footballer, fto unsocial nan full world. When his wife-to-be recovered out, she kept him astatine arm’s magnitude until 1 day, watching a animation together, she gave in. “Mine was a wholly different ‘film’ to nan 1 that Lamine is living,” he says.
“It’s life, it’s football,” Rodri adds, and it’s not ever easy. “Lamine showed so overmuch maturity astatine nan Euros. He’s 2 years older now, and you’ve seen what he’s tin of, truthful possibly it doesn’t impressment you truthful much. But astatine his age, 2 years on, I was conscionable starting out. I hadn’t moreover played professionally yet. He’s a kid, he’s shown specified maturity, but he still has things he tin improve: successful knowing nan moments of nan game, say. Which is normal because of his age. We each cognize nan level he has.
“The head said it best. The measurement to thief Lamine is support him calm. He needs to calm that anxiety, that urge, he sometimes has to show what he tin do. He’s truthful important for us, pinch and without nan ball. He’s an intelligent boy. But he’s 19 and location are times erstwhile you person to calm him successful games. He has truthful overmuch shot wrong that he wants to bring out; it’s astir uncovering nan correct moment. Against France, we dream he tin beryllium important.”
Does he listen? It would beryllium easy for an absurdly talented teen to move off, to not return excessively kindly to being told what to do. To think: present comes that symptom successful nan arse again. “No, no, not astatine all, acold from it,” Rodri says. “He ever listens, he’s ever prepared to improve, mature. He’s very self-critical, truthful demanding of himself. Wingers tin sometimes get into that move wherever it feels for illustration referees aren’t blowing fouls connected you and you thin to stop. I insist that he carries on. Don’t stop. He’s a boy who listens, who ever wants to learn. He’s a domiciled model.”
Nor is it conscionable Lamine Yamal. Rodri is connected apical of each of them, much moreover than before. De la Fuente likes to repetition that nan nationalist squad is simply a family, not truthful overmuch made up of bully players arsenic bully people. At nan Euros, activity was shared by 3 men. Rodri was football. Dani Carvajal was competitiveness. Álvaro Morata was empathy. But Carvajal and Morata person departed, leaving Rodri pinch nan limb set and a deeper consciousness of duty, a broader responsibility.
That’s seen successful endless small specifications and successful trying to bring together 26 players, galore of whom do not play but each of whom lend and tin impact nan group for amended aliases worse. David Raya, Joan García, Eric García, Víctor Muñoz, Álex Grimaldo and Martín Zubimendi person not had a minute. Marc Pubill has had conscionable four, Borja Iglesias two. Fabián Ruiz is simply a three-times Champion of Europe for nine and country, and has begun 4 games connected nan bench. Pedri was a sub against Belgium. Merino has only started once; he has scored nan victor 2 games running. “I’m not going to lie; it’s hard,” Grimaldo admitted.
“The fig of skipper is important: activity is captious connected nan transportation but particularly disconnected it,” Rodri says. “On nan pitch, my domiciled is practically nan same: I’ve ever tried to lead from my position. Off nan transportation it’s nan skipper who lays retired a way for nan group. At times of doubt, it is down to him to bring calm to nan group. I’ve tried to sorb what nan dressing room leaders did, those different roles. We miss Carva and Alvaro but I’m trying to pass what I learnt from them.
“You effort to beryllium adjacent to those players who aren’t playing. It’s a individual thing. We’ve each been done it, we cognize it’s portion of football. You can’t opportunity excessively overmuch but you support them, support them involved. Think really you would for illustration to beryllium treated and do nan same. Important players don’t ever person to start. The different day, Fabián starts and is spectacular, scoring. Then Pedri comes connected and gives nan squad what it needed: that finesse, that stability. Mikel is an example.”
So present they are: 100 games down, 4 to go, nan culmination of, well, everything really. Champions League, European championship, Ballon d’Or … World Cup-winning captain? “The highest point you tin aspire to,” Rodri says. “That’s nan challenge, and it’s only been done erstwhile successful history.”
