'I'm the coach - get used to it!', says Hierro

Finally handed the keys to Spain's midfield at a major tournament, Rodri Hernandez has driven the side to the verge of Euro 2024 glory.

La Roja are bidding for a record fourth Euros triumph against England in Sunday's Berlin final and Rodri is both the engine and the brains behind the competition's strongest side to this point.

After Luis Enrique used Rodri at centre-back at the 2022 World Cup with veteran Sergio Busquets still the first choice defensive midfielder, coach Luis de la Fuente has installed Rodri in his best position.

"We have Rodri, who is a perfect computer, he administers everything, the emotions, all the moments in a magisterial way -- that's a great help for everyone," said De la Fuente after Spain's 4-1 last-16 win over Georgia.

Spain fell behind in the match and a pivotal moment, not just against Georgia but in their whole Euros campaign, came midway through the first half.

With his team trailing and rattled, Rodri stopped with the ball in the middle of the pitch and issued his team-mates a message of calm, urging them not to lose their heads and keep following through with their plan.

"Sometimes 20 or 30 seconds of telling people to 'calm down' is more productive than going back on the attack," explained Rodri after the game.

"I thought in that moment that was what I had to do."

It was Spain's organiser-in-chief who scored the equaliser before the break to put La Roja back on track as the minnows' defence crumbled.

Falling behind was the first of a series of pressure moments which have hardened Spain on the way to the final, proving the mental strength of what was already the tournament's most entertaining and dangerous side.

They conceded a late equaliser against hosts Germany to go to extra-time in the quarter-finals but pulled through. Rodri was vital in orchestrating Spain's second half ball-hogging against France in the semi-final which prevented Les Bleus from battling back.

'The main man'

With just one defeat in his last 79 matches for club or country, the 28-year-old has proven his Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola correct in saying he is the "complete" midfielder.

Former City team-mate Ilkay Gundogan has recalled the studious Rodri's long chats with Guardiola after training, always looking to improve.

Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal even begged the former Atletico Madrid man to come back to the Spanish capital and join Los Blancos.

"I tell him every day to come to Madrid," Carvajal said on Spanish radio station Cope this week.

"I say to him 'leave Manchester, there's no sun there, and come to Madrid, we need you...'

"He would be the perfect signing, no doubt."

However, Rodri maintains he is happy under Guardiola at City where his growth has been continuous.

He helped the Premier League club to their first Champions League triumph in 2023, scoring the decisive goal, while also winning four league titles since joining from Atletico in 2019.

At 6-foot-3 (1.90 metres) and boasting a steely frame, Rodri has brought Spain's 'Busquets role' into the modern era and helped revive a nation in the footballing doldrums for much of the decade since their Euro 2008 and 2012 wins and 2010 World Cup.

England fear Rodri could run the game in the same way Italy's Jorginho pulled the strings as the Three Lions finished runners-up in the Euro 2020 final.

"He dictates games with the way he plays, I feel like Rodri is the main man for them," said Ollie Watkins on Friday, whose late goal against the Netherlands sent England to the final.

The Aston Villa striker recalled the last Euro final in 2021.

"I can remember watching the Italy game and Jorginho I felt was a crucial player for them in the last Euros final," Watkins said.

"If we can stop the ball from getting into him, it makes our life a lot easier... but it's never that simple with a world-class player like him."

Spain, by contrast, will do everything in their power to ensure Rodri is at the wheel this time around.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente said on Wednesday that his team were eager to get back on the pitch after winning Euro 2024 in July and that his players' hunger for constant improvement means there will be no let-up in intensity.

"This group is insatiable, competitive, relentless. They are very motivated to keep winning. The best is yet to come," De la Fuente told a press conference ahead of his side's Nations League opener at Serbia on Thursday.

"I see the players very focused and not being overconfident, with ambition and their feet on the ground, they only want to grow and improve. It won't be hard for us to move on to the next one."

On the back of a remarkable European Championship campaign where they won all seven games en route to lifting the trophy with a 2-1 victory in the final over England, De la Fuente said that the secret of Spain's success was sharing an ambitious mentality in which winning has become an obsession.

"I have the honour of managing some exceptional footballers and my greatest merit is knowing how to manage them. We want, within an idea, to grow as team and enjoy ourselves on the pitch. But we only know one way to enjoy what we do: trying to win," De la Fuente said.

"That is why we are always working to get the best out of the players, we are here to help because the credit is all theirs. In Spain, we have an inexhaustible pool of talent and we do a great job at grassroots level. That is the path we have built for years and we are convinced that it is the right one."

After facing Serbia, Spain visit Switzerland on Sept. 8 in League A Group Four of the Nations League.

Spain's path to European Championship success was forged the hard way thanks to a remarkable collective effort, with several squad players coming off the bench at key moments to make decisive contributions when the team needed them the most.

Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal became the 10th Spain player to score at Euro 2024 when he set up and finished in the 86th minute to secure a 2-1 win over England and a record fourth title. It was their 15th goal, the most by any team at a Euros.

It was a similar script to the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Germany when substitute Mikel Merino stepped up to head the winner in the last moments of extra-time to silence a raucous Stuttgart Stadion.

Spain had to dig deep but their monstrous effort in that ill-tempered game against Germany had a price, with midfielder Pedri sustaining a knee serious injury that put him out of the tournament, while bookings for defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand left them depleted to face France in the semi-final.

However, Spain once again showed their grit and passion to overcome another obstacle, with Dani Olmo, who also came off the bench to score and provide an assist against Germany, starting versus France, replacing Pedri, and scoring the winner.

Spain's ultimate team victory came in the final when all looked to be going against them after their most reliable player, Euro 2024 MVP Rodri, could not return for the second-half after suffering a knee injury.

With the game level at 1-1 and England on a roll, left-back Marc Cucurella, whose mistake led to the counter-attack that gave England the equaliser, redeemed himself with a lung-busting 50 metres run followed by the cross for Oyarzabal to score.

Cucurella was one of the brightest lights of Spain's Euro 2024 campaign and credited his performances to his diligent work ethic during an underwhelming spell at club side Chelsea.

A team full of under the radar players with uplifting stories that ground out seven wins in seven matches playing a mostly attacking game at a tournament in which most of the big favourites left under criticism for underwhelming performances.

Spain's two opening wins enabled coach Luis de la Fuente to make 10 changes for the final group game against Albania and the stand-ins did not miss a beat as they carved out a 1-0 win.

They had the perfect leader in coach Luis de la Fuente, the man who was mocked on social media as "Luis de la Who?" after his appointment last year, being little known after toiling away at the country's academy level for over a decade.

He had the chance to work with over half of the players he took to Germany, with names like Rodri, Olmo, Merino, Oyarzabal and Fabian, who had played big roles under his calm guidance in the Under-19 and Under-21 European Championship in 2015 and 2019 respectively, now repeating that success in the senior squad.

"In life and in sport, when you give your best effort and sacrifice yourself, you get the reward from everything you gave up to get there," Rodri told Spain's TVE.

"We have made history. We have beaten four world champions (Italy, Germany, France and England) one after the other, the hardest way to win it. It speaks to the mentality of the team.

"This is something that was cultivated, many of us were Under-19, Under-21 champions together. The coach knew what he was doing. The coach knew what he was doing!"

Newly crowned European champions Spain rose to third in the latest FIFA rankings published on Thursday, while World Cup winners Argentina held on to the top spot following their Copa America triumph.

The rankings come after a busy month for football, with Argentina beating Colombia to win the Copa America and Spain defeating England to win the European Championship.

England moved up to fourth, leapfrogging Brazil after their underwhelming Copa America campaign.

Venezuela, who reached the Copa America quarter-finals, were the most improved side in the rankings, rising 17 places to 37th, with Euro quarter-finalists Turkey jumping 16 places to 26th.

The top 10-ranked nations:

1 - Argentina

2 - France

3 - Spain

4 - England

5 - Brazil

6 - Belgium

7 - Netherlands

8 - Portugal

9 - Colombia

10 - Italy

Spain's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal hopes for his side to win the Euro 2024 final against England in Berlin and Lionel Messi's Argentina triumph against Colombia in the Copa America final just hours later in Florida on Monday so that the duo can have a go at each other in the "Finalissima". 

The 'Finalissima' is a one-off game arranged by CONMEBOL and UEFA, pitting the reigning Copa America winners against the reigning Euro winners. The competition, previously known as European/South American Nations Cup, was held twice in 1985 and 1993 before being discontinued. It was relaunched in 2022 in which Argentina beat European champions Italy 3-0. 

Speaking to RAC1, the leading radio in Catalunya, Yamal said he would like to face Messi, former player and a legend of the Spanish starlet's current club Barcelona, in the upcoming 'Finalissima'. 

"I hope Messi wins the Copa América and I win the Euros, so I can play against him in the Finalissima," Yamal said. 

Yamal has been a standout performer for Luis de La Fuente's Spanish side, who dispelled title-holders Italy, hosts Germany, and pre-tournament favourites France on their way to Euro 2024 final. 

It was Yamal's spectacular curler from outside the box that helped Spain level France in their eventual 2-1 win over Kylian Mbappe's side in the semifinal. Aged 16 years and 362 days, Yamal also became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Euros in the process. 

The Messi-led Argentina have also had a rather smooth sailing into the Copa America 2024 final. The only time Argentina looked a bit shaky was during the semifinal against Ecuador but the defending champions got over the line on penalties despite Messi missing the first kick from the spot. 

Should a meeting of Yamal and Messi materialises in the 'Finalissima', it will definitely be a moment to cherish for fans -- Barcelona fans in particular -- especially since photographs on social media of a 20-year-old Messi cradling and bathing a six-month-old Yamal went viral recently.

Shared by Yamal's father, Mounir Nasraoui, on Instagram with a caption reading, "The beginning of two legends", the photos were taken by Joan Monfort, a freelance photographer who shot a series of images of various Barca players posing with children and their families as part of a charity calendar organised by Catalan newspaper Diario Sport in conjunction with UNICEF.