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Sid Lowe, writer from Spain
“I remember it as a dream come true, the chance to play in the biggest game there when you grow up.” There were 18 minutes remaining when Sergio Ramos was sent onto the pitch in his first Sevilla derby. He was 17 years old, just four games into his senior career, and had a job to do: not to let Real Betis striker Dani move.
Sevilla was a man in Benito Villamarin’s stadium, outnumbered on and off the field. It was tense, difficult, hot — the way a derby match is supposed to be — and he did exactly what he was told. Not least because he didn’t need to be told. That was just him.
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It’s time for a little intimidation, kid take it to the man. No fear, not of him. He was a teenager, unknown, but he didn’t care. Instead, Ramos did what Ramos does. What he will do again and again in his unique thousand-game career that is far from over, now returns to where it all began. It was February 2004. This Sunday evening in Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, 18 years old and 28 major titles since his third and final derby in May 2005, twice his age now, will play another match against Betis, the rival he grew up with. This summer, this child came home.
“I would recommend it to anyone,” he says.
“Sevilla saw me when I was born, shaped me, made me a footballer first and foremost, and I always had an inner feeling that this was Sevilla. I wanted to live this, to close the circle. I wanted to return home, for the people here.” “I had the same affection I had for them. I had options elsewhere, like Saudi Arabia, but I had a debt to the club, my father, my grandparents, Antonio Puerta and Jose Antonio Reyes. It was an emotional decision.” “, Passion. Once the opportunity to go to Seville became real, I didn’t even think about anything else. There are things that money can’t move, only feelings can move.”
“It could have gone well, it could have gone badly, but if you make a decision with your heart, it will always be the right one,” Ramos adds.
Ramos is now 37 years old, and if a lot has changed, not much has changed. Start with him. “At the time, I used to sweat while giving interviews,” he says, placing his hands behind his head like a man who takes life easy. “Now I can just lie back and enjoy it.” “But I still live football the same way; I have the same mentality with which I came to Sevilla. I’ve had the opportunity to win a lot and learn; the only difference between me now and 20 years ago is experience. But I still live football.” “I get up every day and want to win, like I always have.”
This clip of the interview may not be entirely true – the clip where he stood wearing nothing but a well-placed pair of shoes hanging around his neck showed that he had courage, even back then. Moreover, there is a reason he is the only one left from that derby day, a reason he returned not only having played so many games but having won every trophy there is, a World Cup and European Championship winner, and the captain who lifted the trophy. European Cup, the most participating player in the history of Spain; Something in him is still there and always has been. It’s a triumph of character as well as quality, and it’s different from the start.
Look at the lineup for the first derby and feel the nostalgia wash over you, another era: Denilson, Julio Baptista, Dani Alves, Alfonso, Dario Silva. Even Joaquin has finally said his goodbyes. Gone now. Jesus Navas is still there after he was gone and came back, that’s true, but he was a teenager and didn’t play. Ramos did it his own way.
If Ramos has become the ultimate comic book leader, which is almost a caricature of him, it’s because he’s always been that way. “he was sinvierguenza, In the best possible sense,” said Sevilla’s goalkeeper on that derby day, Esteban Suarez. Sinvierguenza It doesn’t translate all that well. This means that he had no shame, no fear, and no doubt. He was a scoundrel you wanted on your team, tough as old boots. His chest, proudly, would not hold back for anyone.
On Thursdays, Sevilla played full 11-man games in training, and the kid who was called up to join them was fierce, extremely competitive and wasn’t afraid of anyone. He would fly up to old players as if they were rivals, as if they were playing for Betis.
Ramos: “I had Pablo Alvaro, Javi Navarro, Dario Silva, Renato, players who were like godfathers to me, who taught me: they showed me what you should do and what you should not do, although all players have their own personality.” . He remembers. “Every older player has a role to play with the kids. I got that from them and that legacy is one I have to pass on to the younger players now.”
Alvaro and Navarro were absolutely wonderful men, perfect parents, insists one former player. She was also tough as nails, a living example of making the most of everything you have. Joaquín Caparros, the trainer, was also cruel, and was full of blood and thunder. He took Ramos aside and told him never to be shy, to never let the top players push him or intimidate him, as if that would happen one day. Quite the opposite.
In one session at the start, young Ramos bumped into Carlitos. Carlitos, a veteran who was 10 years older than Ramos in his third spell at the club, was the kind of player you respected. He faced the teen. What did he think he was doing? Who would have thought it was? They squared off, the usual thing. The veteran warned this kid: There will be words in the locker room. Okay, okay then. When the session was over and they went back inside, Ramos approached him with his chest: So, about that word… Carlitos backed down, saying that it was all just a joke, just absurdity.
One fight, won.
There will be many. “I remember his first appearance in Corona,” Esteban says. “He made both tackles. Not out of control, not a kid who doesn’t know how to go in, no. Advertisement: ‘I’m Sergio Ramos and this is what I do.'” “He had unbelievable physical strength, and he was very good technically. He would stay back and practice free kicks, penalty kicks, everything. And the character, he learned from Pablo and Javi, who were very important to him, but this character came as a standard. “When kids come to the academy in Seville, there is a special fearlessness about them. Set yourself a goal and do it. He was brave and fearless.”
He quickly left and moved to Real Madrid for 27 million euros. After 18 years, when most of them are completely gone, there’s nothing left to win, nothing left to give, he’s back. He is an icon, his influence extends beyond the field, and never more important than this weekend, which is everything in this city.
“Ramos is on a different level, he is one of the most important athletes in Spanish history, a World Cup winner, like Navas, who came through our youth system,” says Sevilla vice-president Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco. “There’s a saying that the next parts are never good but this time it’s the opposite, with him, Navas and Ivan Rakitic. He and Navas grew up on the Utrera road.” [where Sevilla’s training ground is]And it’s important to have people like that Feel Sevilla, who have academy values, who understand the specificity of the city and the club, who know what Sevilla is, and what the derby is. “They can educate other players and show them what this club means to them.”
Del Nido Carrasco says this is linked to what the other team means, and this is Spain’s most special rivalry. “We are open. Seville is an emotional city, expressed in its culture: in the April Fair, in Easter week, in football. It is a double city. Sometimes you ask yourself what would Seville be without Betis, and what would Betis be? “Will we be without Betis? Seville? We have nearly 100,000 season ticket holders among us. If there was only one team, would it have 100,000 season ticket holders? Will it be Madrid or Barcelona?
Del Nido Carrasco adds: “Maybe not, maybe there wouldn’t be the same passion if there was only one team. Maybe he would only have the 40,000 or 50,000 fans we have now. Sevilla is very important to Betis and Betis is very important to us.” Seville. Passion here is created through rivalry, and this is what gives both clubs such a large following, as if they had a religious belief, a way of life. “This is a city that needs jokes, talk, banter.”
“It’s more than just a game; it’s emotional and emotional,” Ramos says. “It’s a game where the score lasts for four or five months, until you get a chance to get revenge the next time. It’s a game that represents all the good things in football. I remember the excitement when I played my first game. When we were in the academy, it’s always the most important. Sevillanus She’s a little special. To understand the way we live, you have to be from here. They say we are angry, but the relationship between the city and the team is deep. There is substance here; Seville smells different, and has a special color. We feel it. “This is a city divided into two parts, and my family’s issue has always been on the red and white side.”
He lived surrounded by it too. As they say in Spain, Ramos was born and raised in Seville; If the players leave, except for Navas, the others will stay. He has been, gone and returned, reunited with them. “I still have good friends at the club, people I have known for a long time,” says Ramos. “I celebrated from a distance when they won. I left a team that was in the middle of the table and returned to one of the biggest teams in Europe; this growth is the path we must continue to follow. I have won a lot and all this is. The opportunity to win something with Sevilla has been lost for me.”
“It’s a nice feeling to come back, and see them every day. It’s one thing to say ‘this is my home’, another thing to really have it as your home again, to feel that Pizjuan is your land, that this is your badge.” “There are few things that can compare to the way I feel every day when I arrive at the training ground,” he says. “Seeing the same lady at the sink who has been there for 20 years, and feeling like this is my home, soothes your soul.” Ramos.
“Anything else you can experience somewhere else, it’s special. I wanted to come back and build my relationship with Sevilla above all else. I feel at home, and I wanted to finish it with my fans, my home, my family. I could die for that.” “You’re a happy man now. Sometimes to grow you have to go, but you never forget where you’re from, you never forget your roots, and you never feel ashamed of who you are.”
