Sergio Ramos Proves He is Not Guilty of Stamp on Raheem Sterling
When England beat Spain 3-2 in Seville on Monday, it was a historic result for the Three Lions. It was their first win in Spain in 31 years since Gary Lineker scored four goals in a 4-2 win in 1987. It was also the first time in 15 years that Spain had lost a competitive fixture at home.
When there was cause to celebrate, social media was abuzz for altogether different reasons after the win. A clip showed Sergio Ramos allegedly stepping on Raheem Sterling's ankle after the Manchester City forward had gone down in the box.
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The uproar was almost immediate. Ramos, universally hated by Liverpool fans for his involvement in Mohamed Salah's injury in the Champions League final, was now enemy no.1 to all of England. That incident alone had laid bare the vicious nature of football fans with Ramos' family also at the end of personal attacks.
However, the Spanish captain has since taken to Twitter himself to clear the air. Rather than explain himself, Ramos uploaded a clip that showed he had nothing to do with Sterling's injury when the 23-year-old went down clutching his ankle.
Translation: "Nothing else to say."
The video clearly shows that although Ramos does get close to Sterling, he does not step on his ankle as it was made out to be.
In fact, Sterling actually goes down after he was tripped by Spain's right-back Jonny Otto. In an attempt to stop Sterling's progress, the on-loan Wolves right-back steps on Sterling's foot and sends him sprawling to the floor.
However, the referee does not award a foul and that is when Sterling leans back and clutches his ankle - more out of disgust and to show that he was clearly stepped on.
This is when Ramos approaches Sterling but does not actually make any contact with the Englishman.
England beat Spain with three first-half goals, two of which were scored by Sterling himself. Marcus Rashford scored the third which gave England a 3-0 lead at half-time.
Spain tried to mount a comeback with Paco Alcacer scoring in the second half a minute after coming on but the home side were also denied a penalty when Jordan Pickford attempted to pull back Rodrigo.
Ramos did score a second in stoppage time but it was too far too late for Luis Enrique's side.