With a serious face – the procession was going inside –, Ricky Rubio (El Masnou, 1993) stayed to wait for Pradilla as soon as the half-time horn sounded. The two left the Prince Felipe of Zaragoza pitch last, commenting on the play. Three assists practically in a row had been received by the Catalan magician. The second of them, without looking, in All-Star format, was the one that ended up scaring Ricky's nerves, somewhat gripped in his first minutes, but after inventing that pass he began to let go and enjoy himself like most the competition 305 days later. Spain fell to an imposing Latvia, Spanish executioner already in the World Cup, in a tight final, but Ricky acted as the undisputed father in La Familia in his comeback, rounding out his statistic with 7 points in the last two minutes. Ricky is here.
“At first I was a little nervous but in the end it's just basketball, it's like learning to ride a bicycle again,” he admitted seconds after the end, in the midst of digesting the game. “I knew it was going to be difficult but I'm happy. We had to remove the dust a little and enjoy this beautiful game again,” he added with metaphorical skills. And by faith he enjoyed it, playing the important minutes and dressing undisguisedly as the leader of Spain. As if he had never left.
While the Palau waits its turn to show all the affection to its new signing, Prince Felipe gave him a precious advance payment, the reception for one of his idols was spectacular. Since his arrival at the pavilion, dozens of fans gathered at the main door to entertain his team and, especially, Ricky Rubio. As has happened during these days of concentration in Zaragoza, the player has been protected by all levels of the Federation so that his reappearance would be one of those landings that raise applause on a plane. Soft and calm. Also by his companions, with his brother Claver at the head, alongside the one who entered the pavilion. They haven't separated these days. Many things unite them, such as the loss of a very close family member due to damn cancer. With that giant heart that he shows off, Ricky named a room at the Dexeus Hospital in Barcelona named after Claver's father after his foundation.
The new Barça point guard was one of the last to go out to warm up, always serious, focused. It was an important day. The one about his reappearance. At the end of the warm-up he had no problem stopping to take photos with the younger ones. Then came one of the moments that I missed the most, the dancing before jumping onto the dance floor to the sound of Go Home. “The tete is on the vine,” he chanted, jumping with his companions. Friends.
Finally, the news arrived. Scariolo announced his starting quintet to face Latvia, the first stop on the way to being able to defend the title at Eurobasket 2025 and number 9 appeared among those chosen. If Ricky Rubio had been summoned it was not for the gallery, he was going to return with all the law. “You can run on the treadmill whatever you want, but nothing imitates a game,” he stressed at the end, tired but more than satisfied. He spent 20m13s on the track. He started out somewhat stubborn in his shooting but with his skills to distribute the game intact. And he finished with 11 points, 5 assists and 1 rebound.
But the numbers were the least important. Ricky enjoyed basketball again and the public accompanied him on that beautiful way back. Welcome.
75 - Spain (14 23 20 18): Ricky Rubio (11), López-Arostegui (10), Juancho Hernangómez (8), Parra (-), Pradilla (14) -starting five- Brizuela (16), Abalde (3 ), Alocén (-), Claver (5), Alberto Díaz (1), Sáiz (7) and Sima (-).
79 - Latvia (23 17 17 22): Zoriks (6), Bertans (1), Grazulis (13), Rodions Kurucs (9), Cavars (6) -cinco inicial- Arturs Kurucs (-), Leimanis (2), Silins (4), Steinberg (7), Strautins (2), Lomaz (18) and Timma (11).
Referees: Ademir Zuparovic (Bosnia), Igor Mitrovski (Northern Macedonia) and Berniamino Attard (Italy). Grazulis (m.33), Lomazs (m.40) and Kurucs (m.40) were ruled out by staff.
Incidents: match corresponding to the first day of group C qualifying for Eurobasket 2025 played in the Príncipe Felipe pavilion in Zaragoza before 10,533 spectators.
