50 cap Rodrigo honoured, saying - ‘You are my second family’.

Eleven thousand metres above the ground, Rodrigo Hernández received the best possible tribute: the one his teammates paid him on the squad’s way to their European Championships dream in Germany.

The international midfielder played in Mallorca and against Northern Ireland in what was his 50th game as a senior international and the entire national team squad wanted to recognise him with a special tribute at high altitude.

In the presence of RFEF vice-president Alejandro Morales Mansito and coach Luis de la Fuente, it fell to captain Álvaro Morata to act as master of ceremonies, addressing the entire plane's passengers to announce that ‘we have to congratulate the legendary Rodri on completing 50 games for the national team. We hope it's the best month of your life, which means it will be the best of ours too.

"It's all happened very quickly since that day 23 March in 2018. It makes me very proud to reach 50 caps for my national team and to feel this shirt,’ said Rodrigo.

Once he had received his commemorative shirt, Rodrigo spoke warmly to his teammates: ‘You know that you are my second family,’ he said, while referring to the national team's great objective, noting that ‘this European Championships is like when someone sees the peak of a mountain in the distance. It seems far away, but step by step we are going to climb it until we reach the top".

A warm round of applause followed the midfielder’s words and after the flight the squad ended their journey in the German town of Donaueschingen, which Spain chose to be the squad’s basecamp during the final phase of the European Championships.