Geneva, Nov 15: A World Cup winner, European champion with Spain and Real Madrid, and expert penalty taker, Sergio Ramos had scored from his last 25 spot kicks.
On the night of his European men’s record-setting 177th international appearance on Saturday, he was given two chances from the spot to celebrate with a goal. Ramos missed them both.
Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer twice guessed right, and dived to his right, to save in the 57th and 80th minutes.
Though the first was well struck, the second was a flat, slow flop of an attempted chip and kept Spain trailing by one goal. Ramos was spared further embarrassment by substitute Gerard Moreno firing an 89th-minute leveller in a 1-1 draw in the Nations League. Still, Spain coach Luis Enrique was not going to lose faith in his captain who is among world soccer’s most battle-hardened defenders. “Ramos hadn’t missed in 25 tries,” Enrique said.
“If there had been a third penalty, he would have taken it as well. And a fourth, and a fifth.” The Ramos drama, as he passed Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon’s European men’s mark of 176 international games, took some attention from a high-class goal that gave Switzerland a 26th-minute lead. Remo Freuler’s technique was perfect to guide an angled, half-volley shot that rose and floated beyond Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón’s reach. Spain’s lapse in Switzerland let Germany take the lead in Group 4 of the Nations League top tier ahead of their decisive meeting on Tuesday in Seville.
Germany won 3-1 against a Ukraine team that lost four players to positive tests for COVID-19 on Friday.
Though Ukraine took a surprise early lead, Leroy Sane soon leveled for the 2014 World Cup winner. Timo Werner then scored twice on his return to the Leipzig stadium where he made his name before an offseason move to Chelsea. (AP)
