Rodri says that when he was a kid he was more interested in understanding football than enjoying it. He was obsessed with figuring out "how it worked".
"I watched a lot of games – my family was sick of it – and I could judge if a player was thinking," he once told El Pais. "I tried to add that to my game, because I could see that if I understood the game I would have an advantage, especially at a young age when few players have that conceptual understanding."
His studies served him well. This is a footballer with a level of intelligence matched only by his influence over the game. He controls play, and to such an extent that sometimes he can stop it. Indeed, we often laud those special talents capable of controlling matches for ‘putting their foot on the ball’ - and Rodri did exactly that in Spain’s Euro 2024 win over Georgia.