Tribute in Cordoba to the nation’s favourite son

He has not yet hung up his boots (he will do so in December) and, yet, we already miss him. Jesús Navas González, the reigning European Championships and Nations League champion, received a heartfelt tribute from his national team colleagues and the RFEF as a whole on Tuesday, just a few hours before the match between Spain and Serbia at the Nuevo Arcángel stadium in Córdoba.

Accompanied by his parents Francisco and Aurora, his wife Alejandra and his sons Jesús and Romeo, the right-back wanted to share a very special reunion with his teammates a few hours before the match in the city of Cordoba.

The vice-president of the RFEF, Pablo Lozano, and the national team coach, Luis de la Fuente, presented Navas with a commemorative shirt with the number 56, which represents Navas' appearances for the national team, as well as the World Cup trophies, the two European Championships and the Nations League won by the Andalusian player, making him the most decorated player in the history of the national team.

‘You represent a source of pride for the whole of Spanish football and here in the camp we all wanted to convey that feeling to you,’ said the coach to Navas, whom he has known since his time as a youth player with Sevilla FC and who was called up for the last UEFA Nations League final and the last European Championships in Germany.

It was a day of recognition and tribute for Jesús Navas, who will be accompanied by his family at the match against Serbia in which Spain, with a win, would seal their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League.