SERGIO RAMOS
Sergio Ramos García (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈserxjo ˈramoz ɣarˈθi.a];[A] born 30 March 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains both Real Madrid and the Spain national team. Primarily a central defender, he can also play as a right back.
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Internationally, Ramos represented the Spanish national team at three World Cups and three European Championships. He won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro in 2008 and 2012, being named to the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in 2010, and the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2012. He made his first appearance at the age of 18 and, in 2013, he became the nation's youngest player to ever reach 100 caps.[6] He is the nation's second-most capped player.
Ramos is regarded by many as one of the best defenders in the world.[7][8][9] He was named to the FIFPro World XI eight times, a record for a defender and the fourth-most all-time, and to the UEFA Team of the Year seven times. Also, he has been named La Liga's Best Defender a record four times, and to the La Liga Team of the Season in 2015–16.
n the summer of 2005, Ramos was purchased by Real Madrid for €27 million, a record for a Spanish defender.[14] He was the only Spanish player brought in during Florentino Pérez's first stint as Real's president.
At the club, Ramos was assigned the number 4 shirt, previously worn by Fernando Hierro. On 6 December 2005 he netted his first goal for the Merengues, in a 1–2 UEFA Champions League group stage loss at Olympiacos.[15]
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During his first seasons, Ramos played as centre back, being also used as an emergency defensive midfielder on occasion. However, with the arrival of Christoph Metzelder and Pepe in the 2007–08 season, he was again relocated to right back. In his first four seasons at Real Madrid, Ramos displayed a goalscoring instinct unusual to many defenders, netting more than 20 goals overall. He also received the first nine of his 24 red cards for the club, including four in his debut season. His first red card came after two bookable offences in a 1–0 away loss to RCD Espanyol on 18 September 2005.[16]
During the 2006–07 season, Ramos scored five goals, including one in a 3–3 draw with FC Barcelona, as Real Madrid won a record 30th Spanish league championship.[17]
On 4 May 2008, he assisted Gonzalo Higuaín in the 89th minute against CA Osasuna in an eventual 2–1 away win, the match that sealed the club's 31st league championship. On the final day of the season, he scored twice in a 5–2 home win against already relegated Levante UD: one through a header, and another an individual effort; these goals taking his league tally for the 2007–08 season to five.[18]
On 24 August 2008, Ramos scored in the 2008 Supercopa de España second-leg against Valencia CF, making the score 2–1 in an eventual 4–2 and 6–5 aggregate win. The victory came despite Real Madrid playing with only nine men for a long period of time after Rafael van der Vaart and Ruud van Nistelrooy were sent off. Although Ramos experienced a slight dip in form during the early part of the 2008–09 season, he returned to his best and on 11 January 2009, scoring an acrobatic volley in a 3–0 triumph at RCD Mallorca.[19] He continued his scoring run the following week in a 3–1 home win against Osasuna.[20]
Ramos was named in both FIFA and UEFA's 2008 Team of the Year, adding the FIFPro Team of the Year 2007–08 accolade. He also finished 21st in the European Player of the Year nomination for 2008.[21]
2009–15: Breakout and team mainstay
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Ramos was appointed as one of Real Madrid's four captains. Because Pepe had suffered a serious knee injury during this campaign, Ramos was often deployed as central defender. He scored four goals in 33 league matches; and, on 21 February 2010 he played his 200th official match for the capital team against Villarreal CF(150 in the first division). Despite these personal highlights, Los Blancos finishing the campaign without picking up any silverware.
In Real Madrid's 0–5 loss at Barcelona on 29 November 2010, Ramos was sent off after kicking Lionel Messi from behind, then pushing Carles Puyol in the ensuing melée.[22] After this ejection, he equalled Fernando Hierro's previous record of ten red cards at the club, despite having played in 264 fewer games.[23] On 20 April 2011, Ramos started in the season's Copa del Rey final, a 1–0 win against Barcelona in Valencia. In the subsequent victory procession, while celebrating on the top of the club's bus, he accidentally lost hold of the cup, which fell under the wheels of the vehicle; the trophy was dented as a result.[24]
On 12 July 2011, Ramos extended his contract with Real Madrid until 2017.[25] The following 25 April, in the Champions League semi-finals' second leg against FC Bayern Munich, he missed his penalty shootout attempt as Real Madrid lost 1–3;[26] the league campaign ended in conquest after a four-year wait, and he was the player with most balls recovered in his team, third overall.[27]
On 9 January 2013, Ramos was sent off for a second bookable offense midway through the second half of an eventual 4–0 home win over Celta de Vigo for the domestic cup. He subsequently received a four-match suspension, after it was revealed he also insulted referee Miguel Ángel Ayza Gámez.[28] The following month, mere minutes after scoring the second goal at home against Rayo Vallecano and less than 20 minutes into the first half, he received two yellow cards within one minute in the eventual 2–0 home success, taking his red card tally with Real Madrid alone to 16; and 12 in the league.[29][30]
In late February/early March 2013, due to the absence of Iker Casillas due to injury, Ramos captained Real to back-to-back wins over Barcelona in just four days: he netted the 2–1 home winner in the second game, heading home after a corner kick.[31]
On 14 December 2013, Ramos received a club record 18th red card for Real Madrid in a 2–2 draw at Osasuna,[32] but the suspension was later lifted.[33] His 19th came in a 3–4 home defeat to Barcelona, on 23 March 2014.[16]
On 29 April 2014, Ramos scored twice from headers in a 4–0 away win against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League,[34] with the tie ending with a 5–0 aggregate score and Madrid's qualification to the decisive match for the first time in twelve years.[35] On 24 May, in the final against Atlético Madrid, he headed home in stoppage time to tie the game 1–1, and his team went on to win 4–1 in extra time to claim their tenth trophy in the competition; he was also chosen by fans as Man of the match.
Ramos started 2014–15 season on 12 August 2014 by playing full 90 minutes in 2–0 success against Sevilla to win first trophy of the season, the UEFA Super Cup.[37] He then played the two-legged Supercopa de España final against Atlético Madrid with Los Blancos losing 2–1 on aggregate.[38][39] Ramos scored his first goal of the season on 31 August in week two of La Liga, a header in a 4–2 away loss against Real Sociedad.[40]
He scored in both the semi-final and the final of the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco as Real Madrid won the tournament, and was voted the player of the tournament.
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