by Often when a door closes a window opens. is The case of Rodrigo Hernández. It was like that, because In the summer of 2013, when the Madrid native was 16 years old, Villarreal made him an attractive offer and he left an Atlético team that did not pay much attention to him either. because he didn’t finish hitting the growth spurt. He was far from the 1.91 that he measures now, but he was aiming for a deployment midfielder, or at least that’s what he saw from Villarreal in that discreet and hard-working kid.
He arrived in Castellón, where he began to shine in the youth team, attracting the attention of Marcelino, who made him debut with the first team. so Rodri enrolled in Business Administration and Management at the Jaume I University of Castellón, and bought a second-hand Opel Corsa from a woman to travel from Castellón to Madrid to see her family. The first was always a priority for him due to intellectual restlessness and foresight, “football is not always going to be there.” In fact, he even took planes from Manchester to Castellón to submit some applications to finish his degree. The second thing, the Corsa, was done against the opinion of those close to him, who urged him to buy a more robust car for those trips home. Atlético paid 25 million to repatriate him to the Metropolitano in 2018, although he would say goodbye to the mattress club again. In this case a year later, when Guardiola spent 70 million to sign him to make him the leader of his champion Manchester City project and one of the best midfielders in the world.
Neither social networks nor tattoos
He arrived in England without making a noise, without having social networks and without a single tattoo on his body. In his record there was only a U-19 European Championship and a European Super Cup with Atlético. No one suspected, perhaps not even Guardiola himself, of the enormous possibilities of that tall boy who began playing indoor soccer at the Kolbe school in Villanueva de la Cañada. in Madrid. There he integrated into his game that innate way of using his body to protect the ball and not lose it to rival pressure. He moved to Rayo Majadahonda and from there to Atlético, where he spent five years with the Hernández brothers, Theo (Milán) and Lucas (PSG).
In Villarreal he emerged as a fun fellow resident. Specifically in the UJI residence, to which he moved to compare football with his ADE studies. A funny guy who likes to do impressions and very attractive with a microphone in hand at karaoke, Rodri arrived in Manchester aware that it was his great opportunity to grow under Pep’s orders.. Rodri goes over every game he plays in his head and there isn’t a game night that he doesn’t end up watching at home to review what he needs to improve. Both he and his team, something that he later shares with Pep.
He has become so fundamental in the team’s game that when he has been out, City has fallen into a slump. “I have told the players that we have the challenge of winning without Rodri,” the Santpedor coach recently confessed after linking a streak of games without winning that coincided with the loss of the Madrid midfielder. Without Rodri on the field, City win 52.9% of their games and with him on the pitch the ratio shoots up to 73.3% of their games.
Guardiola’s praise
In the City dressing room everyone has a reverential respect for him, starting with Pep: “When he arrived he was a different type of player. Since then, he has played a large number of games and has become one of the captains on and off the field. He is a fantastic pivot who contributes in construction, attack, defense… Also near the area he is very dangerous. He loves to reach that final third, dribble and finish. Is very good. For me is the best”.
His highlight came on June 10, in the Champions League final against Inter. In the first half nothing came of him and Guardiola made a risky decision by pointing him out to his teammates during the half-time talk. “The coach told me to my face that he was wrong, that he was a leader and that he had to change the mentality in the second half. But he did it as an incentive.” The maneuver went well and In the 68th minute, Rodri joined the attack after a play in which Bernardo Silva gained the baseline and the ball bounced to the edge of the area. where he appeared. “The first thing I thought about was bursting it, but in the end I saw a hole and decided to screw it in with the inside outside the defenses”. The thread ended up in the net and the goal gave Guardiola’s Manchester City the first Champions League in its history. “The goal had to be Rodri. He’s super class,” said the elated Erling Haaland, the Norwegian striker.
The year, after winning the Prime Ministerthe FACup and the Champions League with City, conclusions with Rodri conquering the Nations League with Luis de la Fuente’s Spain, where he is vice-captain. Best player in the final and the Final Four, Rodri has become a candidate for the Ballon d’Or in 2023, where he finally finished fifth. A discreet, studious, humble and normal guy. The anti-football player.
