Sergio Ramos will not go to the Tokyo Olympics. As AS has learned, footballers with options to go to the Olympic event will be vaccinated this next week. The Federation doctor has contacted the players who should receive the first dose and that list does not include the captain of Real Madrid, who has expressed his desire to attend on different occasions.
On the list there are players over 24 years of age (the age limit), almost all of them internationals born in 96 who participated in the U21 European Championship that gave the ticket to Tokyo: Ceballos, Fabián, Merino, Pedraza and Marc Roca are there. Rodrigo Hernández and Marco Asensio, who did not attend that tournament because their clubs prevented them from doing so, are also going to be vaccinated, but they are part of the group. Of all these players born in 1996, De la Fuente will only be able to take three in the list of 18, those over 24 years old that the regulation allows.
The hard core of that selection, obviously, is going to be vaccinated: Núñez, Olmo, Oyarzabal, Mayoral, Rafa Mir … In addition, there are other players who are of age to attend and, although they were not in that tournament, they are going to be vaccinated because they have many options to be in Tokyo. This is the case, among others, of Eric García, Ferran Torres or Pedri.
Bouquets
There have been many months of speculation about the presence of Ramos in Tokyo, but the reality, as AS has always reported, is that it has never been in the plans of Luis de la Fuente, the coach. The relationship between the two is magnificent (they coincided in the Sevilla quarry) and the coach is very grateful for the captain's predisposition, because it is to be appreciated that at 35 he was willing to chain the Eurocup and Games almost in a row in a summer that is key for him.
However, the coach's idea was always to bring the players who got the ticket to Tokyo. It is a consolidated group that knows each other perfectly and they have been U19 (2015) and U21 (2019) champions, in both championships with Luis de la Fuente on the bench. Including veteran players, whether it was Ramos or others who have also volunteered, could disrupt the balance of a group that has proven to be more of a team than a selection all these years. Therefore, the exceptions will come from the nine champions born in 1996, to which we must add Rodrigo and Asensio, that although they were not in the tournament they are part of the group (they did win the U-19 in 2015). Now, the options are reduced: among those vaccinated (less than 30) will come out the final list of 18 players that the coach will announce on June 30.