Sergio Ramos, the player with the most participation in the Spain national football team, announced his retirement from international football today, Thursday, after the new coach, Luis de Lafuente, told him that it was not among his future plans.
The 36-year-old Paris Saint-Germain defender, who won the World Cup in 2010 as well as two European Championship titles, has not played with Spain since March 2021, but said the new coach should have given him a chance to show his ability to continue serving his country. .
"The time has come to say goodbye to our beloved national team," Ramos, who captained Spain 52 times, said in a statement. "This morning I received a call from the current coach who informed me that he would not depend on me in the future, regardless of the level I could show."
The Spanish Football Federation confirmed to Reuters that the conversation between coach De Lafuente and Ramos took place on Thursday, but gave no further details.
Ramos fell out of favor with former Spain coach Luis Enrique and has not played since coming on as a late substitute in a 3-1 win over Kosovo in a World Cup qualifier two years ago.
Ramos said, "I wanted to end my career with the national team because of a personal decision or when my performance declines, but not because of age or other reasons. Being young or younger is not an advantage or a disadvantage, it is just a temporary feature that is not necessarily related to performance or ability."
He added, "I look with admiration and envy at (Luka) Modric, (Lionel) Messi and Pepe. They are matters related to the essence, traditions, values and justice of football. Unfortunately, this did not happen to me because football is not always fair and matters are not controlled only on the field."
Ramos played his first international match with the Spanish national team in 2005, before playing 180 matches with the team, to now become the most participating player in the history of the Spanish national team, nicknamed the "Matador".
It is noteworthy that Ramos ranks ninth in the list of historical scorers for the Spanish national team, despite being a defender, as he scored 23 goals with the team.