Sergio Ramos' intimate reasons for returning to Sevilla
The world is only understood with its opposites. Light would not be a miracle without darkness and love would be a vulgar gymnastics without hate. No one would understand a striker without defenses to overcome, no one would understand the howl of victories without the silence of defeats. What's the point of returning if you've never left? What sense would forgiveness have without the grievance?
Sergio Ramos (Camas, Seville; 1986) returns to Sevilla Fútbol Club 18 years later. «It is not a question of money, it is a question of philosophy and feeling; and where he had all that was here,” he said at the press conference for his presentation. On one side José Castro, president of the club; to the other, Víctor Orta, new sports director. Both had denied interest in the defender. The first said: “Ramos wants to come to Sevilla and I want a plane.” The second said: “There is no possibility of signing Sergio Ramos because we have six centre-backs.” Orta, in front of Ramos, gave Castro a toy plane. Castro then gave the little plane to Máximo Adriano, the youngest of the footballer's children.
Returns are written with epic tone. Footballers who left their childhood club looking for other challenges and who, after time, having lived the adventure, put on their shirt again with their first colors, kissing the shield they always carried inside. Michu and Santi Cazorla to Real Oviedo. Wayne Rooney al Everton. Juan Román Riquelme to Boca Juniors. John Sebastian Veron as pincharrata. Football is always a kind of reunion, sometimes with what we are, sometimes with what we stop being.. But Sergio Ramos does not have the entire stadium involved, nor is his path being made between palms and olive branches. There is a part of the fans that does not understand his signing.
Sergio Ramos returns to Sevilla: “I had a debt with my father, with my grandfather, with Sevilla and with Antonio Puerta” That Cup match
His departure from the club was troubled. In the summer of 2005, Real Madrid paid almost 30 million euros for the Nervionense youth player.. Sergio Ramos, wanting to start from scratch, referred to this episode in his last appearance: «I am not a spiteful person. I am a person who forgets. When I left, the only problem was that things were told wrong. I take this opportunity to tell it. It was sold that mine was a clause payment when it was a transfer and agreement by both clubs, it is the only difference. “That people didn't know or told another story at that time.”
After that day, the welcome was always lukewarm at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. In the best of cases, the public treated the central defender with indifference. Sergio Ramos was, simply, a footballer from the rival team and the treatment was in accordance with the performance. But, in the 16/17 Copa del Rey, the relationship got muddied. Round of 16. Real Madrid-Sevilla FC. In the first leg, at the Santiago Bernabéu, a 3-0 scoreline that was difficult to come back from. The Andalusian stadium did not give up everything and chose its battle dress. Jorge Sampaoli's Sevilla was pressing. It was 3-1 on the scoreboard. But in the 82nd minute, with the team overturned, Casemiro was knocked down in the area. Sergio Ramos, scolded throughout the game, went for the ball and put it on the penalty spot.
He looked at the stands. Marcelo approached him and said: “You are the best.” He breathed, looked at the ball and decided to throw it Panenka style. The Biris Norte, the background in which the penalty was taken, took it as a lack of respect. The camero faced the stands and pointed to his shirt, his name and the number. Immediately afterwards, he apologized to the two sides and the other back of Sánchez Pizjuán. But turning again to the north end, he put his hands behind his ears. From that day on, Ramos became more than a rival, much more than a rival, in his visits to the red and white stadium.
«I do not apologize to them. “I don't apologize to anyone who messes with my mother,” the former white captain said after the game in the mixed zone. He was visibly sad. When rumors about Ramos' signing broke out this summer, many, and perhaps he himself, remembered that night. The footballer did not understand at the time that there is no greater sign of respect towards the club of which one was a part than accepting criticism, even with terrible effort. It goes in the salary and it goes in this sport. You cannot understand football, so similar to life, without its opposites. Being part of a team is not compatible with praising your rival. Except for pompous and forced exceptions, the rival leaves the field in a hurry.. “It was youth, I hope they can forgive me,” Ramos apologized when asked about this episode.
Biris Norte expressed himself about this, and harshly, in a recent statement: “We say it once again: dignity, values and respect for the shield and the fans are the basis on which an entity with more than 100 years of history. “We are tired of seeing how the directors and large shareholders of Sevilla FC prioritize their economic interests over what it really means to be a Sevilla fan, although to a certain extent we can understand it, since this is nothing more than their business and their livelihood.”. There is no forgiveness, at the moment, in the north end stands.
Saudi offer
Ramos, however, appears happy and confident in playing a good role in the questioned Nervionense rearguard.. «I left as a child, single, and today I return with my wife and my four stars. I thank my traveling companion for being able to share with her and make me enjoy this moment, which was a very close and emotional topic, because it made no sense to make any other decision other than to return here,” he said on the Sánchez-Pizjuán grass. , in an event open to fans, with more than 20,000 people celebrating the signing of the prodigal son. Sergio comes to Seville for personal, almost intimate reasons, and he ruled out football in Saudi Arabia to find a family and emotional harmony that is difficult to achieve in a destination as distant and exotic as the one offered by Al-Ittihad in the city of Jeddah.. Money can do everything, except the balance within oneself, which is what the Sevilla central defender intends to achieve on this journey towards the origin. This return to what once was.
«Now it depends on him and his performance. “Of his behavior, his attitude and his commitment,” said Joaquín Caparrós, the coach who gave him his debut on February 1, 2004. With Pablo Alfaro and Javi Navarro still in the Nervion defense. With Mauro Silva and Juan Carlos Valerón with the albiazul shirt of Depor, their rival that day. Sergio Ramos, after a discreet time at PSG, wants to look in the mirror of time. Know how far. Know how. Know by whom. He talked about his grandfather, he talked about his father and he talked about Antonio Puerta. With him and with Jesús Navas he became a footballer. In white and with the Sevilla shield on the chest. The color he will now defend during a season of redemption and hope. Life and its opposites: there is no glory without hell.