As France and Spain meet again face-to-face in the EuroBasket final this Sunday (8:30 p.m.), a look back at an episode that ignited the rivalry (and animosity) between the two countries: the Rudy Fernandez’s bad move on Tony Parker in the Euro 2011 final.
Today, putting a photo of Rudy Fernandez on the networks is enough to bring blood to the face of many fans of the French team. But why this anger towards the veteran and captain of Spain? To understand it, you have to go back to the source, to the origin of the beef that exists between Rodolfo (his real first name) and the Blues.
We are therefore in 2011 and France and Spain have an appointment in the final of the European championship in Lithuania. For La Roja, nothing really new because she has been squatting the podiums for several years now. Carried by its golden generation (Pau and Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, José Calderon, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Sergio Rodriguez, among others) Spain won the 2006 World Cup and even Euro 2009. Favorite to its own succession , she crosses paths with a French team on the rise. Beaten in outline by these same Spaniards two years earlier, the French want to confirm their progress against the Iberian ogre. For this, they can count on a very solid core of NBA players with Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum but also Joakim Noah. The group match however showed that there was a huge gap between the two teams (96-69 for La Roja), but it is a final and anything can happen.
Much more solid than in the last clashes and carried by a Tony Parker at the top, the Blues show a good face against a largely favorite opponent. And then comes the action that will unpin all fans of crowing.
Boris Diaw recovers the ball on the outside, sees the backdoor cut from Tony Parker, serves it ideally for the easy lay-up… and there, it is the drama. Rudy Fernandez comes to the aid of his teammate but he is terribly late. He grabs Tony Parker in the throat while he’s in midair, it’s what is generally called a “tie” without having to work in textiles. Needless to say how particularly dangerous this gesture is… TP on the ground, all the friends arrive as reinforcements to tell their way of thinking about Fernandez and immediately there is a crowd between French and Spaniards.
If this action will not decide the outcome of the match itself, it will set the tone for the rest of the clashes between the Blues and La Roja. Opposed to these same Spaniards a year later at the 2012 Olympics in London, the Blues will also lose their nerves in the face of their pet peeve, Batum and Turiaf being guilty of big mistakes on the Iberians. An isolated stroke? No, just the answer against an opponent who gave the first blow. What Vincent Collet confirmed in 2012.
“Basketball is physical. We will not receive any lessons from Spanish journalists. Your players don’t give a gift, we won’t give a gift either. » […]
Rudy Fernandez and the French will not go on vacation together and that is not new. Let’s hope that the Spanish captain will show a better face on the pitch on Sunday evening, at the risk of making new friends (not) on the side of France.
Source texte : France Info