Sergio Ramos smiled as he greeted the Real Madrid players for the first time. 856 days had passed, almost two and a half years, since his tearful farewell in Valdebebas. And he smiled almost three hours later, when he left the white team's locker room after 45 minutes had passed after the match had ended.. The Camas center-back, who spent his entire life dressed in white, finished as Sevilla's MVP in his third match against Madrid. He remains undefeated, two draws and one defeat, always as a Sevilla player, against the club to which he gave La Décima.

The Andalusian defender was imperial in a trench match. Fine with the ball, with a 94% success rate in the pass, with three aerial balls won, with several miraculous interceptions when Madrid was scoring a goal and with a stick, after a save by Kepa, when the entire Pizjuán celebrated the 2-1.

In the war that the duel became as the minutes passed, Ramos was the king. He played like no one else in the madness of the duel, laughing with Rüdiger and confronting him afterwards, having a loving touch with Vinicius first and later pushing him in the middle of the small fight that formed at the end of the match. «I loved seeing him. I wish him the best,” declared Ancelotti.

And Ramos and Rüdiger went from 0 to 100 in seven minutes. They hugged while laughing when they struggled in a corner and a few plays later they faced each other as if they wanted to kill each other.. The Andalusian stretched out the German's face while he grabbed him and, already in the distance, they met in the locker room tunnel.. When De Burgos whistled for half-time, they trotted towards the stairs. This is how they live football. After the final whistle they hugged, whispering something in each other's ears, thinking that everything stays on the battlefield.

Reunion with Modric

After the duel, Ramos spent almost an hour in the Madrid locker room. One after another, the white footballers left for the bus while one player was still inside with him: Luka Modric, one of the Andalusian's best friends.. The Croatian and Ramos made their teammates wait a little, but after a while they appeared through the door. First Ramos, accompanied by his children and still dressed in shorts, and then Modric, the last Real Madrid player to leave Nervión.

It was the end of a stressful afternoon, in which Sevilla ended up issuing a statement announcing that they had expelled a fan for making racist chants and Carlo Ancelotti used irony in the press room so as not to show in public and with words his anger with From Burgos Bengoetxea. The Italian, aware that he has a classic against Barcelona, in Montjuic, in just a week, did not want to criticize and answered “very well” to everything he was asked about the referee.. The coach ended the game with a yellow card, something quite unusual: “I think the referee played a good game, right in everything.”. He stopped the counter to preserve the health of a player. “My opinion is that he played a high-level game.”

Questioned again about De Burgos' work, the Italian insisted on his positive answers: “He got everything right.”. I'm seriously. In the end I asked him about my yellow, but nothing more. Because I don't understand her, she wasn't talking to him, but to Camavinga,” he explained, adding that “the referee did well to separate the players” during the final fight.. Again, Ancelotti was being ironic.

“Irony is the only way”

Later, at the microphones of Real Madrid Television, and after returning from the bus, Carletto was much more forceful. «Irony is the only way because if I say what I think, many matches fall to me. And what I like the most is sitting on the Real Madrid bench so, to avoid suspensions, I don't say what I think.. Shot of irony.

Regarding the team, the Italian highlighted the work of Bellingham and Rodrygo, who despite not scoring said that “he was one of the best in the game.”. «The first half we were good, generating many opportunities. We were very close to scoring, but in the second everything became complicated for us, we lacked intensity,” he summarized. On Tuesday, Braga, and on Saturday, Barcelona.

The World Cup final will reissue the duel between the two giants from the south. England has grown during the tournament, this Saturday they have executed their plan of not making mistakes with surgical precision, but it has not been enough to prevail against the abrasive rugby of South Africa. They may win or lose games, but when push comes to shove, like New Zealand, the Springboks are always there, even if tonight they were close to elimination..

From the sky to the ground, from almost vertical kicks to the fight for the ball at grass level. This is how England has started, faster in almost everything. The game with the foot, his score during the championship, has already given him two punishing blows in the first minutes of the semifinal converted by Farrell (6-0, min. 8). Very well planted on the field, the XV de la Rosa bothered the touches and successfully defended the maul next to their try line. He won an undisguised war of nerves. The blur, a protest from Farrell that gave oxygen to the Springboks (6-3, min. twenty-one).

Unreserved percussion and tackling raised the tension in a match with more prospect prose than poetry. Do not commit indiscipline, do not concede counterattacks, keep the ball safe. The British felt at ease. Owners of the initiative, they stepped on the rival 22 and scored points (9-3, min. 24). The mistake in the throw-ins hampered the South Africans, with less ball and quite a few problems in almost all facets.

The South African selectors must have seen the game badly when after half an hour they changed their opening midfielder for tactical reasons. Pollard, who entered the squad replacing the injured heeler Marx, took responsibility. At the same time, the green and gold team grew, enclosed the British and, with a blow to the opponent's 22, preferred to tie the shot with sticks (9-6, min. 35). To the woodwork, of course, England responded (12-6 at halftime).

The first half ended without rehearsals. Nothing surprising between two teams that know each other well. 13 of the 23 called up per side had participated in the 2019 final that was reissued this Saturday. Two teams facing each other in a physical challenge that is difficult to sustain as the minutes pass.

Since becoming champions, South Africa has expanded its squad. However, pressured by the score, at the beginning of the second half – as she did against France – she turned to the veterans. He has also resorted, with the ball wet, to a game similar to the English one. Ball up and hunting without concessions. A bombardment in which the confidence of the British defender Steward has shone.

Battleship South Africa turns each encounter into an abrasive combat. In the 50th minute, her scrum dragged the Englishwoman and her three-quarters around the mark. He immediately received the same medicine in a ruck and one more dose. A drop by Farrell from 40 meters already gave an appreciable margin to XV de la Rosa (15-6, min. 53), which increased its pressure, forcing unexpected errors in a rival with so much experience.

England has respected two principles from start to finish: not making mistakes and adding at every opportunity. With twenty minutes left, the green and gold forward was already clearly victorious in the scrums, but still without a prize. South Africa finally took advantage of its strength in the 69th minute with one of its favorite sequences: a kick in favor, a touch five meters from the line, and charges for the giant Snyman to pose (15-13). They were where they wanted.

The excitement was palpable, time was slipping away in the formation of the scrums. From one of them, it was sung, the Springboks got the reward. A penalty hit near the center of the field for the striker Pollard. 100% correct since arriving at the tournament. His leg didn't shake. He gave the victory to South Africa (15-16), relegating a convincing England to the cruelest defeat, the same one that Ireland and France suffered a week ago.

The tournament of tournaments is heading towards its outcome, leaving behind a handful of great matches. The exciting weekend of the quarterfinals, with all four matches resolved by less than a try, was perhaps the zenith. In this second semi-final we have seen another match on the edge. Less showy, more closed, coffee for very coffee lovers, but just as vibrant.

Next Saturday, with three titles won by each team, the All Blacks will play their fifth final in ten appearances and the Springboks, their fourth in eight. The weight of two winning stories. At stake, primacy in the present.

If a skinny dog is all about fleas, the Celta is no longer even a malnourished greyhound.. Benítez's team, with a more recognizable Aspas than last season, knows how to play football. What he doesn't know is how to punish mistakes and, what's worse, he concedes them so monumental that they penalize any option for victory.. And Atlético, of course, happily accepts the gifts of life. Villar, this time, was the celestial Wizard King and Griezmann, the boy who received not one but three presents (0-3). [Narrative and Statistics]

Diego Simeone already warned about Celta's capabilities and Rafa Benítez's team wanted to agree with the rival coach. “We are playing against a team that has gotten fewer points than it deserves for its work,” declared Cholo in the preview.. In 15 minutes, the celestials had accumulated three clear chances and zero goals in favor.

That was the time it took for Atlético to have its first long possession and, as a result, a clear chance by Griezmann that the referee ended up disallowing due to Morata's offside.

Before, Lino had barely threatened, a footballer who, for better and worse, knows he owns that left lane.. Because of that overconfidence he made some mistakes that Simeone surely took note of.. Galán, one of Celta's best footballers last season, watched them from the bench. Cholista therapy that Griezmann or Giménez previously suffered, as explained by the coach himself.

rebellion bugle

And then, Villar's madness wanted to make Cholo's phrase good. The light blue goalkeeper threw away all the work of his teammates in a blunder, perhaps punished excessively by Cuadra Fernández. The goalkeeper missed a soft cross from Hermoso, it fell into Morata's boots and he blocked it.. Very clear and red penalty.

Griezmann's goal could have been a blow to a team that has not yet been able to win at home in the League and that has lost the last 10 games against the rojiblancos. However, what could have been a slab was a bugle of rebellion and Benítez's pupils, with Aspas as director of operations and Larsen as finisher, grew up in the face of the passivity of Atlético de Madrid.

And the international break did not sit very well with Atlético de Madrid, no matter how much Simeone was happy to recover the internationals without incident, as well as Barrios and Söyüncü after their injury.. The team was somewhat apathetic and they played more than half a game against 10.

The red from Cuadra Fernández to Iván Villar. EFE

Celta's attitude was admirable despite its adverse circumstances both in the game and in the table, in relegation with only six points. They did not stop believing, as the Atlético team likes to hear so much, nor did they stop threatening Oblak's goal.. The Slovenian had the crossbar saved after a blow from Bamba at the beginning of the second half.

Perhaps the spirit of Helenio Herrera took the soul of the celestial players and that is why they doubled their efforts to try to give the first joy of the season to their fans.. But, when Atlético bites the bone, they no longer let go and, furthermore, Benítez did not help by removing Aspas from the field too soon judging by how the man from Moaña was launching the counterattacks.

Uneven luck

And, if one team is unlucky, the other finds winning lottery tickets on the ground.. The goals enter Atlético even with the tibia. Griezmann scored his team's second after trying to cross Morata. His hit was so bad that it fooled Guaita and the ball slipped into the goal. A few minutes later, Oblak's miss on a long shot almost became the first, but his leg inadvertently saved the goal on the line.

Minutes later, the Little Prince finished off his hat trick from inside the area with a Celta already surrendered and beaten. Benítez had a bad look on his bench, his team looks bad for the rest of the season. Perhaps the man from Madrid will not have time to change his luck no matter how good football his team shows.

He was the supreme representative of English football excellence. The total player, the “gentleman” inside and outside the sacred rectangle. Sir Robert Charlton since 1994. An ambassador for his country. One of the closest squires of the divine quintet: Di Stéfano, Pelé, Cruyff, Maradona and Messi. And, as an emblem of the founding fathers, one of the flagships of world football of all time.

His personal memory is that of the best Manchester United. The most beautiful. The saddest. Two stories in one. A legend in two. A legendary story. Charlton and United had two lives. The first stopped on February 6, 1958, when BEA (British European Airways) Flight 609 crashed at Munich Airport.

The team was returning from Belgrade, after playing against Red Star in the European Cup semi-finals. 23 of the 44 passengers died. Among them eight United players: Byrne, Colman, Jones, Edwards, Whelan, Taylor, Pegg and Bent. The coach, Matt Busby, was torn between life and death for a long time. Other members of the squad, Blanchflower and Berry, affected to the point of depression, never set foot on the playing field again.

Bobby Charlton, who was 21, survived. Manchester United, who had 80, survived. Football England, which was 95, survived. All three were needed. Charlton is United. United is England. England is Charlton and United. A common story that is not understood or loved by any of the separate parts. From that fateful day, and in his own words, every Charlton game was a tribute to his deceased teammates. Although alive, Charlton, United and England were resurrected. The three were born again and began a second life.

Charlton, born on October 11, 1937, had arrived at the club in 1953, thanks to Joe Armstrong, the famous chief scout at Old Trafford, who discovered him in the school leagues of the boy's native region: Northumberland. Bobby had to wait three years to triumphantly enter the first team. Busby had put together a very young team with acne stars Charlton and Duncan Edwards. Frank Nicklin of the Manchester Evening Post called it the “Busby Babes.”. And in that way it went down in history.

Charlton, with the English national team shirt. AP

The victory in the 1957 Premier League took the “red devils” to the 1958 European Cup, where death awaited some. And to all of them a pain that only subsided, without disappearing, with time. The physical and emotional reconstruction of the team, of English football, was a cyclopean task. And glorious, as if football and life paid them an immense debt contracted in Munich.

Between 1958 and 1968, Charlton, United (which also featured Dennis Law and George Best), and England stunned the world. The team won the Premier in 1965 and 1967. The FA Cup in 1968. And the European Cup in 1968, against Benfica (4-1), with extra time and two goals from Charlton. England, with Charlton at the tireless helm of strength and exquisite talent, was proclaimed world champion in 1966. The same year, Bobby won the Ballon d'Or. In 1967 and 1968, silver.

Once the quota of glory was exhausted, United began to decline and went down to the Second Division in 1974.. Charlton had already been a player-coach at Preston North End for a year, from where he left, for another year, Waterford United. He returned to Old Trafford as manager. In his symbiosis with the club, he is also remembered in that position. And as Honorary President.

Football misses Bobby Charlton as a physically and technically gifted midfielder. And with a lot of arrival: he scored 249 goals in 758 games for United. He is still the club's second top scorer, behind Cristiano Ronaldo. With England he played 106 games and scored 49 goals. His image is unforgettable, with his sparse skull and the few strands of hair fluttering in the wind. It was energy and precision. It was professional honesty. In the ideal catalog of his virtues, it was football.