It has not been an easy year for Dani Rodríguez (Astigarraga, August 9, 2005). The FC Barcelona Juvenile winger, who ‘stole’ him from Real Sociedad in 2020, started his first season in the category with enthusiasm, with a view to reaching the U-17 European Championship in the best possible way, of which he would be part of the National Team if he maintained the level he had shown in his U-16 stage, a category in which he had already been part of La Rojita. Nevertheless, everything seemed to go wrong when at the beginning of the course he suffered a sprain in the internal ligament of his left knee. In principle, the injury would keep him out for two months, but that was only the beginning of an ordeal that the young Barça star has overcome with the work and patience of a veteran.
Shortly before the end of 2021, Dani seemed to recover in time to face the second half of the season without problems, but he relapsed from the same injury and was out for another two months. To make matters worse, when he finally got over the sprain, he suffered a break in his thigh that prevented him from stepping on the pitch again until February 5, in a match against Llagostera. Since then, Dani was alternating minutes in the Juvenil B and the División de Honor, but the times made it impossible for him to arrive in condition for the elite round in which the Sub-17 it was played in the month of March to be in the European Championship in Israel.
Despite not being on Julen’s list, Dani did not lower his arms and continued to show all his potential at Barça. For Iban Cuadrado, coach of Juvenil B, he was the starter as long as Franc Artiga, from the División de Honor, did not require his services. He did not go unnoticed Julen, who called him up for the preparatory friendlies against France, in which he debuted with a goal and an assist.
Already involved in the dynamics of the U-17, Dani entered the final list for the European Championship and has already proven to be indispensable. He scored Spain’s first goal in the tournament against Turkey and was La Rojita’s most active player in the first half, in which he was a real headache for the Turkish defenders. Of course, his story is an example to follow.