Spain star Rodri admitted that England was partially on his mind as his team staged a comeback to defeat Georgia in Cologne.
Georgia stunned Spain when they took the lead 18 minutes into the game, courtesy of an own goal by Spain defender Robin Le Normand. Despite Spain’s dominance, Rodri acknowledged that there was a moment when the team allowed the circumstances to affect them.
The Manchester City midfielder urged his teammates to remain calm around half an hour into the match. Shortly afterwards, he equalized with a strike from the edge of the box. Spain eventually secured a 4-1 victory with second-half goals from Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams, and substitute Dani Olmo.
“I stopped the game and I wanted us to get together, to keep cool heads. We were starting to lose control,” Rodri said after the match, which took place shortly after England’s comeback win against Slovakia in extra time.
“We knew it would be a complicated match. We watched England before and it got very complicated for them too. No match is easy and in the end, I think we played well.”
Looking ahead to Spain’s quarter-final match against hosts Germany, Rodri said: “Germany will be strong at home, but we aren’t afraid. We must produce a good performance, but we are not here to play well or leave a good image. We are here to win with everything we have – that is the mentality of this team.”
Spain’s head coach, Luis de la Fuente, praised Rodri’s influence in calming the team after they fell behind.
“It’s normal that after the goal, an own goal, there were some nervous minutes,” he said. “But we managed to wrestle control back and the players read the game brilliantly. We were calm at half-time, there was no anxiety, and the players knew what was needed. And then we have Rodri, who is a computer who makes everyone else play. He managed all the emotions and all the moments perfectly, which is a big help for everyone.”
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