Midfielder Sergio Ramos announced his farewell to the Spanish national team yesterday, February 23, the same day he received a call from new coach Luis De La Fuente.

“It’s time to say goodbye to the national team, our beloved and charming red shirt,” Ramos wrote on Instagram on the evening of February 23. “This morning, I received a call from the current coach, who said he would not consider and believe in me, no matter what level I perform or how I continue my career.”

Before coach De La Fuente’s call, Ramos’ goal was to return to play for Spain at the age of 36. He also wanted to help the team regain glory like they had at Euro and World Cup.

Ramos believes his international career should end based on personal decisions, or performance, instead of age and other issues. “I admire and envy Modric, Messi or Pepe,” Ramos said, citing evidence of players the same age or older who are still shining with their teams. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that for me. Football is not always fair and football is never just football.”

Ramos also thanked the fans for cheering him on during his 17-year journey with the team.

Ramos started playing for Spain in March 2005, in a friendly match against China 3-0. At 18 years and 361 days, he became the youngest Spanish player in 55 years. Ramos’ peak with the team was three consecutive championships: Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. He then joined Spain in major tournaments, until he was absent from Euro 2021 due to injury. He achieved high performance with PSG, but continued to be absent from the 2022 World Cup . The last match he played for Spain was the 3-1 victory over Kosovo on March 31, 2022.

Spain must leave the 2022 World Cup in the 1/8 round. They lost 0-3 to Morocco in the penalty shootout, after drawing 0-0 in 120 minutes. Immediately after that, former coach Luis Enrique had to leave.

De La Fuente is the former coach of Spain’s U19, U21 and U23 national teams. The 61-year-old coach helped the U19 team win the European Championship in 2015, the U21 team won the European Championship in 2019 and the U23 team won the 2021 Olympic silver medal.

Ramos has a contract with PSG until June this year. According to French media, PSG will not renew, and Ramos can go to Asia to play from the summer.