Captain Rudy's Extra Oxygen

In a room at the Sheraton hotel in Berlin, Rudy Fernández keeps part of the secret of his eternal youth.

The captain of the Spanish team has traveled to the Eurobasket with a hyperbaric chamber that he already uses at his house in Madrid to recover from intense efforts and improve his physical fitness.

The passenger compartment reproduces an increase in atmospheric pressure and in these conditions the blood transports more pure oxygen to the muscles.

It is one of Rudy's keys to continue in the elite at 37 years old, captain and capital piece in the team that this Friday (20.30, Telecinco) will play the European semifinals against the host Germany.

With many keys jumping in a body battered by so many competition courses to the maximum, Rudy takes care of every detail to stretch an already legendary career: 16 major events played with the selection between Games, World Cups and Europeans since he debuted in 2004 (he only missed the Eurobasket 2017) and 10 medals;

245 international matches, eight short of Juan Carlos Navarro's record;

and the option of becoming the only basketball player in history with six Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

A path that continues thanks to his passion for the game and a firm dedication.

The forward changed his eating patterns with the help of his wife, he always travels with a special pillow and uses a cold water bathtub at his home, in addition to the hyperbaric chamber.

The recipe helps you preserve a spark that was decisive against Finland:

Rudy commanded the recovery of Spain on the track after grabbing the group in the locker room.

His anger at his teammates left even Sergio Scariolo frozen.

“I said to myself: 'It's happening.'

I no longer had to raise my voice”, explained the coach.

Then emerged that leader in which the forward has become after the progressive absences of Navarro and the Gasol brothers, a role accentuated by the loss of Llull, with whom he shared a room (now with Jaime Pradilla, 21 years old).

“I have seen him be a child, become a father, a leader and a captain.

He has always been an important player, but he was in the shadow of Navarro and Pau, being important but not the main leader on the pitch and off.

This year he had it easy not to have come and he wanted to be.

He has earned the respect of guys he hadn't played with.

He is very special and with a very crushed body he is doing priceless work.

He learned from some and wants others to learn from him,” says Jorge Garbajosa, federative president and Rudy's former partner in La Familia.

Rudy Fernandez still diving for every loose ball at age 37 ❤️ #EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise pic.twitter.com/P61XAhliOQ

– #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 13, 2022

“He is playing the best championship of his life.

His role is different from what he has had on any team.

In training he is an example of energy like he has almost never had.

He hurts his back, his neck, his knee, but he's not scared.

He goes for those balls as if he were 18 years old, ”says Scariolo, recalling a defensive flight against Finland that Rudy later compared to a Courtois save.

"Thanks for teaching me some tricks," he wrote on Twitter.

Rudy wept on the bench after the victory that sent Spain to its 11th consecutive European semi-final.

He remembered his father, Rodolfo, who died in May.

“This has been a very tough year for me.

My father is not here and he would be enjoying himself very much.

I know that he is helping me from above”, said the captain.

On his slippers he wears the names of his children, Alan and Aura.

He only stopped wearing them in the game against Turkey, which he did not play due to a blow to his knee, and he plays with a protection on his right elbow.

On the track, the years have diminished his explosiveness, that sixth gear with which he crushed the basket against Dwight Howard in the 2008 Beijing final, but they have enhanced his intelligence.

In defense, he to go to court.

In attack, to take refuge more in the outside shot than in the penetrations.

Rudy is the Spanish player who has scored fewer baskets than two, three in only five attempts in six games.

And on the other hand, the one who has scored the most triples: 12 of 29 thrown, due to the 11 bingos by Juancho, the nine by Brizuela and the eight by Brown.

The nationalized base, one of the seven rookies, has counted from the beginning with the complicity of the boss.

Rudy, emotional after the game. ANNEGRET HILSE (REUTERS)

Rudy is the third oldest player in the Eurobasket, only behind the Finnish Huff (38 years old) and the Israeli Pnini (39), both already out.

In the preparation he coincided with Juan Núñez, who was born in that 2004 in which the forward debuted with the absolute.

And the Finland coach, Lassi Tuovi, is younger (35).

"I'm 37, I've been through a lot of injuries and thinking beyond the day-to-day would be silly," says the national team's number 5 shirt.

“He is the captain, the example to follow.

Just seeing what he does motivates us to fight and believe.

He speaks in the locker room and leads by example, ”Juancho surrenders.

Rudy has internalized this new role.

From bringing the group together for a barbecue before the tournament to flying in search of a ball.

He assumes it this way: "Being a leader is not having a gift, it is knowing how to help."

Crosses of the final phase of the Eurobasket.

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