Spain’s training session was halted after Rodri suffered a major embarrassment
Rodri got a taste of his own medicine when he was trained by Borja Iglesias – much to the disbelief of his Spanish teammates.
The Manchester City midfielder – known for his passing – couldn’t help himself from being the victim of a brutal humiliation by the Celta Vigo striker.
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Spain are currently preparing to face Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the World Cup, live on talkSPORT.
The rise of the stick
And during the rondo session on Thursday, Rodri was left stunned in an incident he will not want to watch.
Playing as one of the two ‘midfielders’, the 30-year-old looked to shut down his teammates and stop the ball.
But in his attempt to put pressure on Iglesias, he left his legs open – the 33-year-old putting the ball into them.
In unison, the Spanish team responded in shock, with Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino – his team’s hero in their last 16 match against Portugal – putting his hands to his head.
Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or award in 2024, appeared twice disappointed with the nutmeg that led to a temporary suspension in training.
The players then rushed to hug the former Atletico Madrid star – led by Iglesias – who was the first to grab him.
Although it was all fun and games, Rodi was involved in two incidents in North America that saw him attacked by fans.
The first one came after Spain opened with a 0-0 draw with Cape Verde, where they beat the poor tactics of the African nation.
Arsenal icon Emmanuel Petit was quick to call Rodri ‘arrogant’ and ‘disrespectful’, while telling him to ‘look in the mirror’.
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And Rodri then drew criticism from former City team-mate Bernardo Silva for missing a late chance to equalize for Portugal in their 1-0 last 16 defeat to Spain.
Rodri was delighted to head Silva over the bar as he celebrated the now Real Madrid man – angering the 31-year-old.
He finally issued a public apology to Silva, who may play with him next season.
Speaking ahead of the World Cup, Rodri commented on the move to the Bernabeu.
Refusing to rule out the Etihad, he said: “It’s part of football. I’m focused on being a leader in the national team.
“That’s my way. I understand the noise, but I’m not going to waste my time on that. We’ll see after the World Cup.”
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Rodri will now focus on helping Spain reach the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since winning the tournament in 2010.
And he knows his team must bring their A-game to seal their place in the final, as he said: “There is a lot of room for improvement.
“Now we have to rest and continue to improve, we are the same teams, we want football, and we want to be human, it’s about the little details, I’ve said before.
“It was the first chance we got in the whole game [for Merino’s goal] we got in… the thing we have to learn from in the next games is we have to be sharp, because the damage we do is big.
“In today’s football, in the last third you have to be quick.
“When we broke their lines, maybe we were taking over. You have to turn quickly and find attacking players. That’s how the goal came.”
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