Rodri has attracted headlines for the second game running for Spain as he hit out at Scotland's "rubbish, time-wasting" tactics during his country's shock defeat on Tuesday.
The Manchester City midfielder has anchored the midfield in Spain's two fixtures at the start of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, moving forward from his central defensive role during the World Cup. Spain were 3-0 winners over Norway last week - when Rodri was criticised for a strong, but fair, challenge on Arsenal's Martin Odegaard - but fell to a 2-0 reverse against a hard-working Scotland side.
Rodri captained the Spanish side at Hampden Park and gave his verdict after the game, prompting more criticism from former Scotland international Ally McCoist.
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Rodri had told Viaplay: “It’s the way they play - for me it’s a bit rubbish. It’s always wasting time, they provoke you, they always fall. For me, this is not football
“The referee has to take a part in this but he said nothing. It’s a bit frustrating because we want to win and it’s difficult because they waste time, waste time. It is what it is. They have their weapons, we have our weapons, and we will learn for next time.
"They played a good game, the grass is no excuse, they have their conditions. The first goal has conditioned us a lot. They played with five behind, tightly closed. We had options, but the ball didn't go in," he added.
"It is clear that the two that they have had have put them in. We must polish those oversights, those errors that are expensive.
"The feeling is that it is one of those days that you're doing well, but it doesn't quite come in. There are no doubts at all, we don't want to start with that, please. Many things have been done well. The score counts, we have to improve that forgetfulness, specific errors that have penalized us."
Unsurprisingly, Rodri's comments didn't go down well in Scotland, with McCoist hitting back at the City man, suggesting he lacked class by calling out the opposition.
"I thought we were just a wee bit too physical for Rodri, you know what I mean?" he said on TaslkSport. "We were rubbish? Was that the word he used? Bless his wee Spanish heart. Man alive, Hampden was jumping, man."
McCoist had previously told Viaplay: "He's a good player but he can cope with the physical side of the game no bother so the irony of him talking about the physicality of Scotland is not lost on me.
"Listen, sometimes you've just got to hold your hands up and say congratulations to the other team. He's a class player on it, I just think he could've shown a bit more class off it tonight."
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