The international break is coming to an end – and one Manchester City player put in a truly outstanding performance for his country last night.
England took on Belgium at Wembley last night and drew 2-2, in what was an improved display after the 1-0 defeat to Brazil.
But there were worrying scenes again as John Stones limped out of the contest early doors. This followed Kyle Walker going off injured against Brazil.
City fans will hope both injured players will not be on the sidelines for too long.
Elsewhere last night, Spain were taking on Brazil – and there was a typically amazing performance from Rodri in midfield…
Manchester City star Rodri shines in Spain 3-3 Brazil
Rodri did not feature in Spain’s game against Colombia on Friday, but captained the side and played a full match against Brazil.
The holding midfielder – who Gary Neville said recently has an ‘unbelievable’ influence for City – put in a wonderful display against Dorival Junior’s side, scoring twice in the raw.
He opened the scoring for his team, converting from the penalty spot. He also grabbed his second goal from the penalty spot in the 87th minute.
That looked like it would be enough for Spain to win the game. But Brazil levelled with a penalty of their own in the 96th minute through Lucas Paqueta.
Rodri’s whole performance was excellent. He completed 74/78 (95%) passes, three of which were ‘key’, had 93 touches (the most of any player in the game), made four tackles and contested 12 duels. He lost the ball just six times.
Rodri the best of the best
It just doesn’t matter who he plays against, Rodri always has a huge influence.
The 27-year-old is easily the best holding midfielder in football today, and is a player all young players who play in his position should be looking to learn from. Rio Ferdinand reckons he could very well go down as the greatest holding midfielder in Premier League history.
It is remarkable how the £63 million constantly just grabs games by the scruff of the neck and dominates.
He sees so much of the ball in every game, which just shows how much his teammates trust in him. To then use the ball as well as he does and hardly make any mistakes just highlights how intelligent he is.
Without a doubt, he is Manchester City’s most important player, and keeping him out of everyone fit is absolutely essential to the winning of silverware this season.
