The City midfielder capped a superb tournament by leading Spain to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Argentina and gave yet another commanding performance.
Rodri was later awarded the coveted Golden Ball as the Player of the Tournament to add to his incredible collection of team and individual awards.
Talking of his feelings at winning the World Cup, Rodri also spoke of the difficulties he endured recovering from the ACL injury he suffered with City in September 2024.
“We’re a bit shocked right now, even myself,” said Rodri.
“I cannot express with words. I think now we’re like in a cloud but, for me, it’s been a very tough time.
“I just want the new generations to see my example as an opportunity. When you go down, you can rise again. This is my philosophy for my entire life.
“Of course, sometimes things go well, things go wrong, but always the positiveness.
“I said to the lads before the game, ‘we have to go for the game’. We need to face them; we have to look to their eyes. We want this game.
“And then life gives you the World Cup or not, but we were brave and I was brave in that moment I was down, so I want to thank all the people that helped me.
“But I want to thank myself, to be honest, in those moments.
“I think the gap of improvement from the Euros; it was the way this team is matured.
“It’s built on the game, it’s built on every single day. We faced very different opponents, of course, lots of European opponents, but different moments, different type of games.
“And we managed to play all of them, so I think we grow in this sense and this talks about a generation that is making history for our country, as you can see, but also in the way we did it.”
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After a draw with Inter and win over K-League All Stars, we’ll now face Atletico Madrid on Sunday 9 August at 12:00 (UK).
It will be available to watch on mancity.com and our official app for current CITY+ subscribers globally*.
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*City v Atletico Madrid: Globally available except South Korea, Spain
