Spain training session stopped after Rodri suffers ultimate humiliation
Rodri got a taste of his own medicine when he was nutmegged in training by Borja Iglesias – sparking disbelief from his Spain teammates.
The Manchester City midfielder – known for his passing abilities – was powerless to stop himself from being the victim of brutal humiliation by the Celta Vigo striker.
Spain are currently gearing up to face Belgium in Los Angeles on Friday for a place in the World Cup semi-finals, live on talkSPORT.
Rod awakening
And during a rondo session on Thursday, Rodri was left stunned in an incident he won’t be wanting to watch back.
Acting as one of the two ‘piggy in the middles’, the 30-year-old was looking to close down his teammates and stop the ball.
But in his attempt to put pressure on Iglesias, he left his legs wide open – with the 33-year-old gleefully putting the ball through them.
In unison, the Spain squad reacted in shock, with Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino – his side’s hero of their last-16 tie against Portugal – putting his hands to his head.
Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or award in 2024, appeared to do a double-take in embarrassment with the nutmeg leading to an immediate temporary halt in training.
Players then instantly rushed over to swarm the former Atletico Madrid star – led by Iglesias – who was the first to grab him.
While it was all fun and games, Rodi has been involved in two incidents in North America which saw him slammed by fans.
The first came following Spain’s shock opening 0-0 draw with World Cup debutants Cape Verde, where he hit out at the African nation’s negative tactics.
Arsenal icon Emmanuel Petit was quick to label Rodri as ‘arrogant’ and ‘disrespectful’, while also telling him to ‘look in the mirror’.
And Rodri then drew criticism over his ex-City teammate Bernardo Silva missing a last-gasp chance to equalise for Portugal in their 1-0 last-16 defeat to Spain.
Rodri took delight in Silva’s header going over the bar as he celebrated over the now-Real Madrid man – prompting an angry reaction from the 31-year-old.
He ultimately issued a public apology to Silva, who he could be playing alongside in the upcoming season.
Speaking ahead of the World Cup, Rodri commented on a potential switch to the Bernabeu.
Refusing to rule out an Etihad exit, he said: “It’s part of football. I’m focused on being a leader in the national team.
“That’s my path. I understand the noise, but I’m not going to spend my time on that. We’ll see after the World Cup.”
Attention for Rodri will now be on helping Spain reach their first World Cup semi-final since winning the tournament in 2010.
And he knows his side must bring their A-game to seal their spot in the last-four, as he remarked: “There’s a lot of room for improvement.
“Now we have to rest and keep improving, we’re very similar teams, we want the ball, and we want to have personality, it’s about small details, I’ve said it before.
“The first chance we had in the whole game [for Merino’s goal] came when we got inside… it’s something to learn from for the next games, we have to be sharper, because we can do a lot of damage.
“In football nowadays, in the last third you have to speed things up.
“When we broke their lines, we were maybe taking an extra touch. You have to turn quickly and find the players in attack. That’s how the goal came.”
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