Sergio Ramos

BIOGRAPHY

Sergio Ramos is an ace Spanish footballer, who is also the captain of Spain’s national football team and the Spanish club ‘Real Madrid.’ He is one of the strongest defenders in present-day football, although he also plays as a right back, from time to time. Born and raised in Andalusia, Spain, Sergio started his career as a player for a local club, ‘Sevilla FC,’ as a defender at the age of 14. He proved his mettle and was eventually promoted to the main squad of his club. His brilliant performances had him acquired by ‘Real Madrid’ in 2005. For the first few years after the transfer, he struggled to make a strong impression and his performances were mostly average. His performance peaked from 2009. Since he was a defender, his goal tally was not too high, but due to his defending skills, he became one of the four captains of ‘Real Madrid’ in the 2009–2010 season. In July 2011, his contract was extended till 2017, and in 2015, it was further extended till 2020.
Sergio Ramos was born on March 30, 1986, in Camas, Seville, to José Maria Ramos and Paqui Ramos. Seville was popular for its bullfighting tradition. Every other child from the city dreamt about becoming a bullfighter. Sergio was no different. Although he loved playing football, he wanted to become a bullfighter.
He grew up with two siblings, a brother and a sister, and was soon talked out of a career in bullfighting by his parents, as it was a dangerous sport. His elder brother, Rene, who also happens to be his current manager, introduced Sergio to football, and Sergio was soon addicted to it.
His parents were happy with Sergio’s choice and supported him by appointing a private trainer. As a child, Sergio had joined a football club named ‘FC Camas,’ which turned out to be a great learning experience for him. The club was where his real talents were revealed. He won many ‘Man of the Match’ awards and garnered some media attention too.
At the age of 14, he was acquired by the local club ‘Sevilla FC,’ which catered to young talented players. Sergio joined the club’s youth program. Finally, in 2004, he was included in the main squad, and a bright and successful career awaited him.

FAMILY

Ramos entered a relationship with journalist/presenter Pilar Rubio in September 2012. This was confirmed by both at the FIFA Ballon d’Or. They have three sons together: Sergio Jr (born 6 May 2014), Marco (born 27 November 2015) and Alejandro (born 25 March 2018). On 16 July 2018 Ramos proposed to long-term girlfriend Pilar Rubio and the couple got engaged.The couple are set to tie the knot in Ramos’ home-town of Sevilla on 15 June 2019. Ramos is a ‘family person’ and has a close relationship with his siblings and parents. Rene, Ramos’ brother is currently his football agent. Ramos is a fan of bullfighting, which is popular in his hometown, and he is a personal friend of matador Alejandro Talavante. He celebrated victories for both club and country by playing with a matador’s cape. Ramos is also a keen horse aficionado, owning a stud farm in his native Andalusia specifically dedicated to the breeding of the Andalusian horse. Ramos’ horse, ‘Yecutan SR4’ became a World Champion in 2018. Ramos is Catholic, and has a tattoo of Mary which covers the top half of his left arm.

Club career

Sevilla
Born in Camas, Seville, Andalusia, Ramos began his career at local side Sevilla, emerging through the club’s youth system alongside Jesús Navas and Antonio Puerta. He made his first-team – and La Liga – debut on 1 February 2004, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for Francisco Gallardo in a 0–1 away loss against Deportivo de La Coruña. In the 2004–05 season, Ramos appeared in 41 games as Sevilla finished sixth and qualified to the UEFA Cup, scoring in home fixtures against Real Sociedad (2–1) and Real Madrid (2–2). In the season’s edition of that European tournament, he scored his first continental goal, heading to conclude a 2–0 win over CD Nacional at the Estadio Ramon Sánchez Pizjuán in the first round (4–1 aggregate).
Real Madrid
2005–09: Record transfer and early struggles
In the summer of 2005, Ramos was purchased by Real Madrid for €27 million, a record for a Spanish defender. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He continued his scoring run the following week in a 3–1 home win against Osasuna. 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.
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 finished 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. After this ejection, he equalled Fernando Hierro’s previous record of ten red cards at the club, despite having played in 264 fewer games. 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. On 12 July 2011, Ramos extended his contract with Real Madrid until 2017. 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; 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. 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. 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. 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. On 14 December 2013, Ramos received a club record 18th red card for Real Madrid in a 2–2 draw at Osasuna, but the suspension was later lifted. His 19th came in a 3–4 home defeat to Barcelona, on 23 March 2014. On 26 April, Ramos scored a header against Osasuna in La Liga at the Bernabeu, in a counter-attack which he began with a strong tackle. It was his first goal in La Liga in six months, since his volley against Levante on match-day 8. On 29 April 2014, Ramos scored two headers in four minutes in a 4–0 away win against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League, 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. Ramos’ brace against Bayern (4 minutes) was the fastest brace in UEFA Champions League semi-final history at the time. On 4 May, Ramos scored in the 2–2 draw with Valencia at home in La Liga with another header, scoring in back-to-back league games. Just three days later, Ramos scored his first free-kick for a 1–1 draw away to Valladolid, having scored in three consecutive La Liga matches and scoring four consecutive matches for Real Madrid for the first time. On 24 May, in the final against Atlético Madrid, he headed home in stoppage time to tie the game 1–1, and Real Madrid went on to win 4–1 in extra time to claim ‘La Decima’, their tenth trophy in the competition; he was also chosen by fans as Man of the match. Ramos ended 2013/14 with 7 goals, which made it his highest scoring season for Real Madrid at the time.
Ramos started 2014–15 season on 12 August 2014 by playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 win against Sevilla to win their first trophy of the season, the UEFA Super Cup. He then played the two-legged Supercopa de España final against Atlético Madrid with Los Blancos losing 2–1 on aggregate. 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. Ramos scored his 50th Real Madrid goal which came off his knee on 8 November against Atheltic Club at the Bernabeu in La Liga as Real Madrid won 5–1. He scored in both the semi-final and the final of the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup and was voted the Player of the Match in both as Real Madrid won the tournament in Morocco. Ramos was also voted the player of the tournament, winning the Golden Ball.
2015–present: Captaincy and sustained success
Ramos agreed a new five-year contract with Real Madrid in August 2015, tying him to the club until 2020. He was also made captain after the transfer of Casillas to FC Porto. On 8 November, Ramos scored his first goal of the season away to Sevilla, it was an overhead kick which forced him to get substituted due to landing on his injured left shoulder. On 20 December 2015, Ramos captained Madrid to a 10–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano, the club’s highest scoring La Liga victory in 55 years. The following 13 March, he received his 20th red card for Real Madrid in a 2–1 win over Las Palmas, having earlier scored the game’s opening goal with a header from an Isco corner kick. On 2 April 2016, he returned from suspension in a 2–1 victory against Barcelona at Camp Nou, where he was again sent off, receiving his 21st red card and fourth in a Clásico fixture. Real Madrid reached the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final, where they faced Atlético Madrid. Ramos once again scored in a final, putting Real ahead in the first half. After a second-half equaliser from Atlético, he then scored a penalty in the shoot-out which resulted in Real winning 5–3; thus, he lifted his first UEFA Champions trophy as a captain. He was named man of the match by UEFA after the game. Ramos started in the 2016 UEFA Super Cup, scoring Real Madrid’s second goal of the match in the 93rd minute, bringing the game into extra-time. Real Madrid were the eventual 3–2 winners, with Ramos being named man of the match. Ramos ended 2015–16 with 3 goals in 33 games which was his lowest goal tally and the fewest matches he played in any season at Real Madrid due to ongoing injuries. On 3 December 2016, Ramos scored his fourth Clásico goal, an equaliser against Barcelona in a 1–1 draw at the Camp Nou in the 90th minute, extending Madrid’s unbeaten run to 33 games. One week later, he scored another late goal, this time after 92 minutes, to help Madrid claim a 3–2 victory against Deportivo de La Coruña. On 15 January 2017, Ramos scored an own goal late in the game against Sevilla which equalised the score at 1–1 and eventually Real Madrid lost the match 2–1 in stoppage time, thus ending their unbeaten streak at 40 matches. A week later, he scored both goals in a 2–1 win over Málaga, registering his 50th goal in La Liga. On 11 February, in a 3–1 victory against Osasuna, Ramos’s marked his 500th match with the club. In the UEFA Champions League Round of 16-second leg, Ramos scored an important equalising header against S.S.C. Napoli in a 3–1 away win as Real Madrid qualified to the quarter-final after winning 6–2 on aggregate. On 12 March, Ramos scored another late header winner for Real Madrid, this time against Betis at the Bernabeu in a 2–1 win, taking his goal tally to 10 for the season – scoring double digit goals in a season for the first time in his career. Ramos’ winner put Real Madrid back at the top of the La Liga table. Real Madrid won their 33rd La Liga title, giving Ramos his fourth league title overall and first as captain. They went on to win their first league and European Cup double since 1957–58 season, as the team defeated Juventus in the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final. This also made Ramos the first man to captain a team to back-to-back European Cups in the Champions League era. His ten goals in 2016–17 made it the highest scoring season of his career. On 20 August 2017, in Real Madrid’s first game of the 2017–18 La Liga, he received his 23rd career red card. It was his 18th in La Liga, a joint highest record. He went on to break that record, seeing his 19th La Liga red in a 0–0 draw with Athletic Bilbao. Ramos scored his first goal of the season on 13 September in the Champions League, scoring a bicycle kick against APOEL on match-day 1. In La Liga, Ramos scored four goals, including two penalties – against Leganes and Sevilla. During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he made eleven appearances, while scoring one goal, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title. Ramos’ performance in the final, however, was met with criticism; a challenge on Mohamed Salah resulted in the Egyptian dislocating his shoulder and missing the rest of the game, and he hit Liverpool keeper Loris Karius in the head with his elbow, the goalkeeper later being diagnosed with concussion. Ramos later denied that he intentionally hit Karius, saying that Virgil van Dijk pushed him into Karius. Ramos became the first player to captain a team to three consecutive Champions League triumphs, having now lifted the Champions League in every season as captain.
Ramos began the 2018–19 season scoring a penalty in the eventual 2–4 loss to Atletico Madrid in the 2018 UEFA Super Cup. Taking the penalty ensured Ramos would be the team’s new penalty taker with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. On 26 August 2018, Ramos scored another penalty in Real Madrid’s 1–4 away win against Girona FC, making him the only player along with Lionel Messi to score in each of the last 15 La Liga seasons. One week later, Ramos scored his third penalty of the season, against Leganes in a 4–1 win at the Bernabéu – his first goal at the Bernabéu since March 2017. On 20 October 2018, Ramos played his 400th La Liga match for Real Madrid in a 1–2 loss at home to Levante, becoming only the tenth Real Madrid player to reach this milestone. After a run of poor results and the sacking of Julen Lopetegui, Ramos scored his first goal for Real Madrid in two months through a Panenka (penalty kick), against Real Valladolid in Santiago Solari’s first 2018–19 La Liga game in charge of Los Blancos. Two weeks later, on 11 November, Ramos scored another Panenka against Celta Vigo – making them the 25th different team he scored against in La Liga. This was Ramos’ third Panenka from his last four penalties, with the inventor of the Panenka penalty, Antonín Panenka, saying Ramos was the best ‘imitator’ of his penalty technique. With five goals in the first three months of the season, Ramos had his best goal-scoring start to a season at Real Madrid. In the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, Ramos played in both Real Madrid’s semi-final against Kashima Antlers and the Final against Al Ain. Ramos scored a header in the Final as Real Madrid won 3–1 to claim their third consecutive FIFA Club World Cup. Ramos became the first player to lift three consecutive FIFA Club World Cups while also becoming the first defender to score in two Club World Cup Finals. On 9 January 2019, Ramos scored a penalty in the Copa del Rey game against Leganés, which was his 100th career goal, excluding 2 goals for Sevilla’s reserve team. To celebrate the goal, Ramos chose to show the number 100 with his fingers. On 24 January, Ramos scored a brace (2 goals) against Girona in the Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 1st Leg in a 4–2 home win. It was Ramos’ 4th brace for Real Madrid and his first in the Copa del Rey. Three days later, Ramos scored his 10th goal of the campaign with a header against Espanyol in a 2–4 away win, which was also his 60th La Liga goal. With ten goals to his name, Ramos equaled his highest-scoring season at Real Madrid which he set in 2016–17. On 6 February 2019, Sergio Ramos was playing in the Clásico for the 40th time. The captain has played in more encounters between Real Madrid and Barcelona than any other member of the current squads. Three days later, in the Madrid Derby, Ramos scored his eighth penalty of the season and his 11th goal in all competitions – making it the his best goal-scoring season at Real Madrid. Four days later, in the Champions League Round of 16 First Leg away win over Ajax, Ramos became just the seventh player to play 600 matches for Real Madrid. In the match against Ajax, Ramos was booked for what seemed to be a needless challenge in the 90th minute. The booking meant that Ramos would miss the Second Leg against Ajax at the Bernabeu due a suspension of accumulating yellow cards. This sparked controversy after Ramos hinted to journalists in a post match interview that the yellow card was deliberate, which violates UEFA’s rules. Two and a half weeks later, UEFA opened a disciplinary investigation regarding this matter and decided to give Ramos a two-game ban, meaning he will also miss both the Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg against Ajax and the quarter-final First Leg should Real Madrid qualify. On 17 February, Ramos played his 601st match for Real Madrid, against Girona in La Liga, equaling the record of Real Madrid legends Hierro and Gento. Ten days later, Ramos played in his 41st El Clasico, in the Copa del Rey Semi-final 2nd Leg at home. This was Ramos’ 602nd match for Real Madrid, taking up to him fifth in Real Madrid’s all-time appearances list. On 2 March, Ramos played in the La Liga El Clasico at the Bernabeu, making him equal the all-time record of Sanchis, Gento and Xavi by playing in 42 Clasicos. On 5 March, Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League by Ajax after losing 4–1 at the Bernabeu (aggregate 5–3). Ramos did not feature due to being suspended after forcing a yellow card in the first leg, thus faced criticism for doing so. Moreover, Ramos faced even more criticism as he was caught with a camera crew in the stands, filming for his new Amazon Prime documentary. Ramos took to his Twitter and Instagram accounts to discuss the controversy surrounding his actions in which he admitted forcing the yellow card against Ajax in the first leg ‘was an error and I take the blame 200%’. Regarding filming the documentary, Ramos claimed there were ‘certain commitments’ made prior and he did not imagine the game would pan out as it did.

National career

Early international career and 2006 FIFA World Cup
In 2004, Ramos became an instant hit for Spain’s under-21, for whom he played six international matches. During the 2004 U21 Euro, Ramos was a key figure for Spain as he started in four out of five of their matches on the way to winning their fifth U21 European Championship, including scoring a decisive penalty in the Semi-final penalty-shoot out against Ukraine. On 26 March 2005, in a 3–0 friendly win over China in Salamanca, he first appeared for the senior side at only 18 years and 361 days of age, making him the youngest player to play for the national team in the last 55 years. He held this record until 1 March 2006, when it was broken by Cesc Fàbregas in a friendly match against Côte d’Ivoire. On 12 October 2005, Ramos scored his first two international goals in a 6–0 away thrashing of San Marino for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He was selected for the final stages in Germany and, after the international retirement of Real Madrid teammate Míchel Salgado, became the undisputed first-choice right-back. Despite wearing the number 4 jersey for Real Madrid, Ramos admitted he wears the number 15 for Spain in memory of his close friend and former Sevilla teammate Puerta, who died in August 2007 and made his Spain debut wearing No. 15.
Euro 2008
Throughout Spain’s UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Ramos was a regular member of the starting eleven as the national side finished first in its group, above Sweden. He scored two goals, including one in a 3–1 away win over Denmark, in 11 appearances. In the tournament’s final stages, Ramos played in all matches and minutes, except the 2–1 group stage win against Greece. In the final, his pass nearly set up Marcos Senna’s first international goal, but the latter missed his opportunity by inches. During the celebrations after the 1–0 defeat of Germany, he wore a T-shirt in honour of his late friend Puerta.
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup
Ramos was selected in the squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, as Spain finished in third. On 3 June 2010, he captained Spain for the first time, in a 1–0 friendly win over South Korea in Innsbruck, Austria. At the 2010 World Cup, held in the same country, Ramos played every minute of the tournament as a right back, helping Spain keep five clean sheets and reach the final, which they won 1–0 against the Netherlands; he topped the tournament’s Castrol Performance Index with a score of 9.79.
Euro 2012
Ramos returned to the heart of the defence for Euro 2012. When asked about his role change, he replied: “I have adapted and feel comfortable in the middle, but I am a World and European champion at right-back.” He played all the games in Poland and Ukraine alongside Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué and, in the semi-finals against Portugal, he converted his penalty shootout attempt in an eventual 4–2 win (0–0 after 120 minutes), scoring for the eventual champions in Panenka-style. On 1 July, Ramos won his third trophy with the Spanish senior National Team as they thrashed Italy 4–0 in the Final. Ramos’ performances during the Euro earned him a place in the Team of The Tournament. Ramos wore another T-shirt during Spain’s Euro 2012 celebrations to pay homage to his late friend Puerta.
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup
On 22 March 2013, Ramos celebrated his 100th cap by opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw with Finland in Gijón for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He became the youngest European player ever to reach that figure in the process, surpassing Germany’s Lukas Podolski. In June, Ramos contested in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, starting every match as Spain lost to the hosts in the final. He captained the side for their second group game, a 10–0 win over Tahiti at the Maracanã, which is the biggest win of his career. On 30 June, he missed a penalty kick in the 3–0 Confederations Cup Final loss to Brazil. Ramos was selected for his third World Cup in 2014. He played the full 90 minutes of each of the team’s matches in Brazil, each with a different partner in central defence, as the reigning champions were eliminated from the group stage.
Euro 2016 and 2018 FIFA World Cup
In February 2016, Ramos won the Luis Aragones Award by Marca which distinguished him as the best player of the National Team in the past year. With David de Gea selected ahead of Iker Casillas in Spain’s starting line-up, Ramos captained the team at UEFA Euro 2016. On 21 June 2016, he had a penalty kick saved by Danijel Subašić in a 2–1 loss to Croatia. Spain finished their Euro group as runners-up and crashed out in the Round of 16 against Italy. On 23 March 2018, days before turning 32, Ramos earned his 150th cap for Spain in a 1–1 friendly draw with Germany in Düsseldorf. Only Iker Casillas had previously reached the mark for the team. Ramos was included in the Spain squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and would go into his fourth tournament, and first World Cup as Captain after Iker Casillas missed out. He played in all three of Spain’s Group stage matches as they topped the ‘Group of Death’ ahead of European Champions Portugal. In the Round of 16 against Russia, Ramos believed he scored the opening goal but it was later credited as an Sergei Ignashevich own goal. The match ended 1–1 after Extra Time and was decided on penalties (4–2) as the hosts eliminated La Roja. Ramos scored Spain’s fourth penalty but it wasn’t enough as teammates Koke and Aspas both had their penalties saved.
2018–19 UEFA Nations League and Euro 2020 qualification
With new coach Luis Enrique, Ramos retained captaincy of the national team. He played in all four of Spain’s 2018–19 UEFA Nations League group matches, becoming the nation’s top scorer in the group with three goals – scoring once against England and twice against Croatia. Spain finished second in their UEFA Nations League Group, which saw them miss out on the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. In March 2019, Ramos scored the winner in Spain’s first UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Norway through another Panenka penalty in a 2–1 win. This was his tenth penalty of the season, scoring them all. It was also his fifth consecutive match scoring for Spain, which is a personal record. Spain manager Enrique hailed Ramos as a ‘unique player in history’ after the match. In the second Euro 2020 Qualification match, away to Malta, Ramos didn’t score for the first time in six matches for Spain – failing to extend his scoring streak. However the match ended 0–2 to Spain which was his 121st win with La Roja, equaling the all-time record of Iker Casillas.