Rodrigo: “The goal was the World Cup, arriving fresh is not the same”

Spanish national team midfielder Rodrigo Hernández acknowledged that the World Cup was “the main objective” of this season in which he regained his rhythm after his serious knee injury, “fresh” to captain Spain in search of the second star, while insisting that he does not think about his “future.”

“It was the main objective of this season. I come from two different years, I have had to adapt a little to arrive in the best conditions. It has been an important year to grow, adapt, the objective was clear that it was the World Cup. I am at the best physical level of all this time, with few games, it will give me a lot of air,” he said from the concentration in Chattanooga in an interview with El Larguero, collected by Europa Press.

“Arriving at a fresh World Cup is not the same. Each one has a condition, it depends on the injury, my case is very particular. You have to be quite intelligent to manage. The club was sensational. I am a bit of an idiot and they have to stop me. Very happy to be here leading this group, with more young people but with a little more experience,” he added.

Rodri celebrated having fulfilled his goal of arriving in full condition at the World Cup that Spain will start on Monday the 15th against Cape Verde as the favorite to be in the final on July 19. “I have many challenges ahead of me. I have come out stronger, I am in a very good moment, I am playing in a World Cup as captain, in full condition, I cannot ask for more. I have reaped the fruits of time working and doing things well,” he stated.

“It’s okay to say it. The labels don’t matter a little to us but we come from being European champions, the last Nations League finals, we have shown that we are in shape, along with Argentina, but I am going to try to convey to the group that what we have done is worthless. We have to go with humility that in a World Cup we have not done anything,” he added.

Regarding other favorites, the captain of ‘La Roja’ insisted on pointing out the defending champion. “There are many teams that are growing a lot, I don’t think we are talking about two teams to win the World Cup. We’ll see, I’m very cautious. The physical issue is going to be important. There may be surprises. The most complicated rival I think is Argentina, because of the group level team they have,” he said.

“The idea is to go in an ascending line. The rivals are also improving. The block is the same, the idea is the same, but there are players who continue to grow. Maybe in the Euro Cup it was more of a surprise and now they are more of a reality. The kids are still the same and at a football level, with more experience,” he insisted.

On the other hand, the Manchester City player valued his relationship with Luis de la Fuente. “With Luis I have the feeling that we understand each other perfectly, I know what he needs from me. I know what I have to do, how to guide the group and I know what I want from him. I try to transmit what I have learned in these years, there is a young group. We knew what he was capable of, of building a team, he has achieved it and I wish he would be around for much longer. In the national team, humanity and understanding are more important,” he commented.

Furthermore, Rodri recalled Gavi’s commented entry during one of the last training sessions. “I had a good trip, we already know that Gavi is impetuous and it remained an anecdote. He has no filter. It’s something we like but we try to tell him that training is different from games,” he confessed.

On the other hand, the Spanish international was asked about his future and about the statements of Enrique Riquelme, who said that he intended to sign the City player if he had won the elections for the presidency of Real Madrid. “I don’t think about anything about my future, the World Cup is going to be decisive for me. The process, the recovery, it wouldn’t make sense for me to be focused on other things today. After the World Cup, we’ll see,” he said.

“I’ve been a bit on the sidelines, it’s true that things come to you, I don’t know very well where things come from. I understand that it’s part of the game. We accept it. I haven’t thought about it, nor am I making decisions,” added Rodri, who still has one year left on his contract with City.