Sergio Ramos is one of the most hated footballers in the world — in other words, he’s a brilliant defender.
One of the most decorated players in the game right now, Ramos has four Champions League titles and a World Cup victory under his belt. He’s picked up dozens of yellow and red cards along the way and been involved in his share of doling out injuries to opponents.
But, for once, Sergio Ramos didn’t do the awful thing he was accused of doing.
In the second half of England’s impressive 3-2 victory over Spain in the UEFA Nations League on Monday, an incident occurred that set the internet on fire, especially those indignant Englishmen who love their team when they win and bash them when they lose in equal measure.
The episode in question involved Sergio Ramos supposedly stamping on Raheem Sterling, who scored twice in the first half. Immediately the world exploded because here’s the big bad Ramos stepping on the golden boy goal scorer (at least, he’s a golden boy because he scored, but when he got a tattoo over the summer, he was Public Enemy No. 1).
Here’s one of the clips that caused the immense vitriol.
How has no one picked up on Ramos purposely going to stamp on sterling #ESPENG pic.twitter.com/QIjvjHDDBU
— Ryan Lord (@Lordy88) October 15, 2018
Ramos wasn’t booked or even called for a foul. Play went on, and Spain’s come back fell just short, in part because somehow Jordan Pickford wasn’t given a red card (or even a foul) for clearly taking down Rodrigo and denying a sure goal after the goalkeeper was dispossessed in his own box.
Debate raged for a couple days over whether Ramos stomped on Sterling until Ramos himself ended the debate on Wednesday.
Nada más que decir.
Nothing else to say. pic.twitter.com/BCuQI3n7hT— Sergio Ramos (@SergioRamos) October 17, 2018
“Nothing else to say.”
Yep, Ramos supplied us with definitive proof that he isn’t the bad guy this time. And it's impossible to argue against him (though I'm sure many will try).
Sergio Ramos is a hard-nosed defender who does what it takes to help his team win. He’s a guy that you’d love deeply in ways you never thought possible if he was on your team, but if he isn’t, you fucking hate his guts.
Ramos plays on the edge, so it’s not surprising people overreact when he may have committed another infraction. But Ramos didn’t meander over to Sterling just to step on him. The Manchester City winger was already writhing around on the ground for some other reason.
And here we thought Manchester City and Liverpool fans were going to have something to commiserate over together.
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