Rodri: ‘We have made history, beating four former world champions in the process’

Spanish European champion Rodri was named EURO 2024 player of the tournament by UEFA’s technical observer team that included Packie Bonner and Michael O’Neill.

Rodri started all but one of Spain’s seven wins from seven in the tournament that concluded in Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Sunday night with their 2-1 victory over England.

Speaking to EURO2024.com after the final, where he was withdrawn at half-time due to an injury, Rodri said: "This is probably the best day of my career.

"We are European champions, as difficult as that is. We have become Europe's most successful national team."

They became the first side to win four European Championships.

"We have made history, beating four former world champions in the process. We got through the toughest draw and it speaks for the mentality of the team."

The player had a successful passing rate of 92.84% from the 439 passes he played during the Euros. 

When choosing the Player and Young Player of the Tournament (won by Rodri’s teammate Lamine Yamal), technical observers take individual performances and the player's impact on his team into account, as well as if they played with a positive attitude and respect towards the opposition. 

UEFA's technical observers at EURO 2024 were: Fabio Capello, Ioan Lupescu, Michael O'Neill, David Moyes, Aljoša Asanović, Rafael Benítez, Avram Grant, Packie Bonner, Frank de Boer, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Aitor Karanka and Jean-Francois Domergue.

Previous Player of the Tournament winners

1996: Matthias Sammer (Germany)
2000: Zinédine Zidane (France)
2004: Theodoros Zagorakis (Greece)
2008: Xavi Hernández (Spain)
2012: Andrés Iniesta (Spain)
2016: Antoine Griezmann (France)
2020: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)

Freshly painted in Hamburg this morning #euro2024https://t.co/psOixbViLTpic.twitter.com/OcrK760f2T

— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) July 15, 2024