The 36-year-old is La Roja’s most capped player of all time with 180 appearances for the Spain senior team, but none have come since early 2021 due to repeated fitness setbacks. Ramos has not featured for his country since leaving Real Madrid to join Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent last year.
The talismanic central defender endured a difficult 12 months of injury niggles, coinciding with dropping out of the Spanish squad and struggling for regular football. However, he has enjoyed a resurgence of form and fortune in the French capital this campaign – but it was not enough for him to be included in Spain’s World Cup squad.
Ramos has missed out on each of the last two major tournaments for his nation – also sitting out last year’s European Championships, when Spain were defeated on penalties in the last four – and appears to have fallen from favour under boss Luis Enrique.
Spain opted to play a centre-back duo of Manchester City players Aymeric Laporte and Rodri, although the latter is a holding midfielder at club level – indicating that Enrique’s approach to playing explains the exclusion of Ramos.
It was Achraf Hakimi’s spot kick for Morocco which sealed Spain’s defeat in the penalty shootout, with the wing-back celebrating the goal with a penguin celebration. As outlined by Marca, this is a private joke shared by Hakimi and Ramos for Kylian Mbappe – whom they nicknamed ‘the penguin’.
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Ramos has spoken about Spain’s elimination in an Instagram post, which can be read as a rallying call to disappointed fans. As he selected a picture of him playing for Spain, rather than of the players from this tournament, it may also be seen as a suggestion that he is desperate to return to the international stage.
“Today more than ever, proud of our flag, proud of our country and proud of our players,” Ramos wrote, alongside a photo of him in the kit of the Spanish national team. “Spain does not lose, Spain learns. Spain falls, stumbles, but gets up and continues to lead. We will come back and come back stronger. Let’s go Spain!”
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