The success story of Rudy Fernández with Spain began with 16 years almost recently. That bronze in the European Cadet of Riga was the first of his 10 medals with a selection that has just been chosen by the head of the wardrobe. "It is always special to be a captain," the Mallorcan values ​​just before traveling to the Malaga Tournament, where he will play his first minutes of preparation for the World Cup in China against Ivory Coast (10:00 pm).

"I have learned a lot from the captains that I have been having in the national team and now with the help of the young and the elderly I try to face it in the best possible way," says the forward, with the rennet granted by his 211 internationalities, the cap In this selection. His generational partner, Marc Gasol, has 43 games less.

Both have become the most veteran of a group that these days rushed the work in the Madrid Golden Triangle. After another strenuous campaign with Real Madrid, Rudy is outlined as a basic reference for Sergio Scariolo. As much or more than in that World Cup in Turkey.

Nine years ago, the resignation of Pau Gasol forced the rest to a step forward in the defense of the 2006 title. In a very irregular tournament, marked by that strange debacle against Lithuania and the damn triple of Milos Teodosic in quarters, Rudy stood out over the rest with 15.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 26.4 minutes on average. His best figures in a great championship since that debut with the absolute: a July 23, 2004 against Croatia (97-70 in Palma).

The scoring role

Today, with 34 years on the card, his role in the team must be coupled back to those times of great annotations. Awaiting Scariolo's discards, the Mallorcan has been exercising in the escort position. "We all feel qualified to assume the scoring role. Anyone is prepared for it, be I, be it Ricky (Rubio), be Sergio (Llull)," he added about the coach's plans.

"I am used to playing a lot of forward in Real Madrid and also with Spain I played in the position when I was Navarro," he adds about his predecessor with the bracelet. The final goodbye of La Bomba, after Eurobasket 2017, also opens the door to Rudy for another major challenge: the 253 matches of the international record. In between, the milestones of Nino Buscató (222), Felipe Reyes (236) and Epi (239).

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