Rodri had a very special game. And not because it was a Spain-Brazil. For him it was something more. On Sunday his grandfather, Noé Hernández, died. He was in Salamanca to say goodbye to him and this Tuesday he was able to honor him by dedicating a double to him in the friendly at the Santiago Bernabéu. “He has instilled in me many values. I have played with incredible inner peace,” he said excitedly after the game.
It was a doubt until the last minute. Cause of force majeure and in the middle of a break for two friendlies, with nothing at stake, but Rodri wanted to play at the Santiago Bernabéu. And he did it as captain of Spain, making his debut with an armband given to him by Álvaro Morata, aware of the importance of the match for his teammate.
With the ’16’ on his back and the captain’s armband on his left arm, Rodrigo confirmed that he is living his best moment, also at the scoring level. With seven goals and eleven assists so far this season with Manchester City, he added two more goals in his 49th international match.
Both goals against Brazil were from penalties. And the first, in the 12th minute that opened the scoring against Brazil, after another great gesture from Morada, who gave him the chance to take the maximum penalty that he converted with confidence, shooting in the middle, after deceiving goalkeeper Bento.
Rodri quickly pointed with the index fingers of both hands to the sky and lay down on the grass, overcome with emotion and burst into tears as he dedicated the goal to his grandfather moments before all his teammates came up to hug him.
His second goal with Spain in a match that he ‘determined’ to play to pay the best possible tribute to his grandfather and that he was able to put the finishing touch on by scoring another goal in the 87th minute, from a penalty, repeating the celebration.
However, what seemed to point to a victory for Spain thanks to Rodri’s double and Lamine Yamal’s goal for the Blaugrana ended in a draw after Lucas Paquetá tied the match again at the last second. “Victory escaped us at the last second. It’s a shame, the penalty was avoidable,” Rodri reasoned. And for the Euro Cup? “We left a good image as a team that is growing,” he said.
