Sergio Ramos picking up a yellow card is about as newsworthy as Zlatan Ibrahimovic being narcissistic. This Sergio Ramos yellow card, however, was a bit different.
Ramos was booked in the 29th minute moments after opening the scoring with a penalty kick in Spain’s 2-1 win over Romania in a Euro 2020 qualifier on Thursday. He was shown yellow for his celebration, in which he put his hands over his eyes as if they were binoculars and looked at the Romanian crowd. (Those watching on ESPN+ heard the announcers praise his celebration because all Brits care about is having passion and desire.)
Watch the video below to see the Sergio Ramos yellow card (and the goal and penalty decision, which looked to be a bad call live but upon replay to be the right one as Dani Ceballos had his foot stepped on).
Ramos protested his yellow card, even doing the goggles/glasses/binoculars gesture into referee Deniz Aytekin’s face. (Other outlets, apparently having not even watched the match or even the moment in question, reported Ramos was trolling the referee instead of explaining his celebration.) It seems as though Ramos was booked for excessive celebration and inciting the crowd.
So why was Ramos so angry with the Romanian crowd?
Because of what happened just before the start of the game.
Before kickoff, the PA called for a minute of silence for Xana Enrique, the 9-year-old daughter of former Barcelona and Spain coach Luis Enrique who recently lost her battle with bone cancer. But many Romanian fans did not care to be silenced.
To the credit of the Romanian players and staff, they looked embarrassed by their fans. But Ramos didn’t forget the insult.
When Ramos scored, he went straight to the Romanian fans and let them know he saw what they did.
Aytekin may have had a point with the Sergio Ramos yellow card, but the Romanian fans probably deserved to be taunted.
Spain ended up winning the match 2-1 despite a late red card to Diego Llorente for what has to be a shocking decision from the German referee.
Aytekin, who once ate candy on the pitch during a Bundesliga match, showed Llorente a straight red card after the Spanish defender clearly knocked the ball into striker George Puscas, who then fell over either from the force of the ball or trying to draw a foul.
It’s a bit absurd UEFA isn’t using VAR for these qualifiers, as that call would’ve immediately been remedied, though it did look like a good call when seen live.
Fortunately for Spain, it was able to hold on for all three points. La Roja are cruising toward qualification for Euro 2020 with five wins out of five; they sit five points ahead of second-place Sweden and seven ahead of third-place Norway in Group F. The top two in each group advance to the Euro 2020; Romania is now fourth with seven points.
As for Sergio Ramos, the Spanish captain now has 22 career yellow cards for Spain, which is surprisingly low given his 166 caps and his penchant for yellow and red cards in LaLiga and the Champions League. He also has 20 goals for the national team, which ranks him tied for 10th in Spanish history and is more international goals than Francesco Totti, Franck Ribery, David Beckham or Carlos Tevez ever scored.
Ramos is 19 of 22 on penalty kicks for Spain and Real Madrid, which makes you wonder why he’s so much better at putting them away than, say, a more natural goal scorer like Lionel Messi.
Update:
According to The Mirror, Sergio Ramos said his celebration was for his nephew, who wears glasses, and the referee only thought he was trying to rile up the crowd.
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