Rodri: “The best of me is yet to arrive in the National Team”

Rodrigo Hernández Cascante (Madrid, 24 years old), known to everyone as Rodri wants to be just as important in the National Team as in the City, where he has become the most valuable center half in the Premier League. He spoke at the ceremony about the presentation of Panini's Eurocup stickers and was excited to see his first sticker with the National Team:

What name do you like to be put on the stickers: Rodri, Rodrigo or Rodrigo Hernández? As long as I put my first name on the shirt, I'm delighted that it puts Rodri on my card, because people know me as Rodri.

Have you made collections of stickers?

Yeah sure. As a child we have collected corms, we took our backpack to school to change with our classmates and we liked them a lot.

What is the first collection you remember?

I remember the 2006 World Cup, it was my first collection.

What did you feel when you first saw it on a chrome?

My first chrome was at Villarreal. You feel a tremendous illusion to see you there. You never think that you are going to see yourself, you see your idols and suddenly you are in a chrome.

And he already has his chrome of the Selection.

I am very excited to have the chrome of the National Team. I will put it in my home framed. It is a great pride to represent your country and have your sticker from Spain.

His season is being very good, he is one of those who plays the most minutes in the City and is settling in the National Team, how do you feel?

Each year that passes is one more year of experience. After two years in England I am more mature and I am growing at City. In the Selection I have with me a reference like Busquets who has been here for more than a decade. We both have to give each other feedback and it's good for the team.

What do you think of the departure of Kun Agüero from City? Where will it go?

I hope he goes to a big team because that's what Kun deserves. He is one of the greats of the last decade, I wish him the best in the world. He has lived through a very successful stage and is leaving as the top scorer in the history of Manchester City. He is my friend and I wish him the best.

Luis Enrique is very worried about the game against Georgia, how are the players?

We players live things on the field and see the difficulty. They are teams with a lesser name, but they compete very well and make things very difficult. We have to qualify for a World Cup and we have to take first place. It is true that we have to improve many things, we know it and we will work to achieve it.

Do you perceive a lack of confidence from the fans?

Before the great parties and the less good ones, I ask for tranquility. We see that the road is good, the work dynamic is good. Each game is different, but in almost all teams they are very withdrawn and there are few spaces. We have to know how to play this type of game and improve. I send a message of optimism to the fans because we are going to do our best.

In the National Team, Rodri from City has not yet been seen, what is he missing?

By coming to Spain every two or three months, you don't have the same continuity as in your club. You land on a different team and there are few days to adapt. The best of me is yet to come, I know what I can give. And I keep the same illusion of learning and improving every day.

Thiago: “The Eurocopa Album will be a collector's item”

Thiago Alcántara was in the act of presentation of the cards of Panini of the Selection for the Eurocup and answered the questions of the presenter of the act about the cards.

Have you collected trading cards? Do you remember your first collection?

Yes, of course. My father was a footballer and we really liked collecting stickers. I made the collection together with my brother Rafa and we spent both of our pay buying envelopes of stickers. Our hope is that our father comes out. We expanded the collection of the league with the album of the Euro Cups and the World Cups and thus you were getting to know other countries. Collecting cards was not useful for learning because you obtained information by getting to know the players.

What was the first sticker of your father that you collected?

The first chrome of my father that I remember is in Celta. The moment of taking out the chrome with my brother from my father was very exciting and very beautiful.

And what did you feel when you saw it on your first chrome?

Just like when you go out the first time in FIFA or Pro, you are very excited to see your first sticker. I have it stored next to my father and my brother.

Will the Euro 2020 Album played in 2021 be from collectors like those of Euro 2008 and Euro 2012?

It will be a collectors item for sure. We have a fantastic group, with a mix of experienced young people, and we can dream of great things.

What will be the most sought after chrome?

Having collected every year, I will keep and have a special memory of the Sergio Busquets and Sergio Ramos stickers, because they have appeared in the previous National Team. They have been on the National Team's stickers for more than a decade.