[ad_1]
BASEL, Switzerland: Sergio Ramos missed two penalties as Spain needed a late draw from Gerard Moreno to draw 1-1 with Switzerland in the Nations League on Saturday, but coach Luis Enrique backed his veteran star and said: If there was a third penalty, he would have taken it too. “
Ramos was making his 177th appearance for Spain to become the European player with the most international appearances in history, moving away from Italian Gianluigi Buffon, who has 176.
But instead of a celebration in Basel, it was a night to be forgotten for the defender, who saw a penalty shot stopped by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, but fell back to score a second, only to fail again with a terrible attempt at ‘ Panenka ‘.
“Sergio’s numbers for penalties are out of this world,” Enrique said.
“If there had been a third penalty, he would have committed it too.”
Ramos had previously scored 25 penalties in a row and his inaccuracy from the spot cost Spain, which will now have to beat Germany in Seville on Tuesday to reach the final four.
“We wanted to win here and the team tried until the end,” Moreno said. “It was not like that, but it is still in our hands to overcome it, even if we have a difficult match.”
Enrique’s men have only scored three goals in their last five games and once again struggled to break through to a well-organized Switzerland, which they led through Remo Freuler and also sent off Nico Elvedi with 11 minutes to go.
The Spanish press was beaten too easily for the first goal when Switzerland counterattacked at high speed.
With Ramos out of position, Breel Embolo ran behind before throwing a cross to Freuler, who opened his left foot and skewed the ball brilliantly into the far corner.
Ferran Torres could have equalized at the edge of the break, but he fired at the back post before Ramos began his frantic half hour.
First, he brilliantly blocked Freuler’s shot down the line after Unai Simón made a mess by running off and then the captain of Spain won the first penalty, his header hitting Sergio Rodríguez’s arm, who had turned his back on him.
But Ramos was unable to convert, his shot well stopped by Sommer, who refused to commit too early and fell quickly to his right.
Twenty minutes later, Álvaro Morata was fouled by Elvedi and Ramos stepped in to amend it, only to compound his earlier mistake by failing again, this time with a chip attempt that Sommer easily picked up.
Spain finally found the equalizer in the 89th minute when Moreno took advantage of a weary Swiss defense by converting a cross from Sergio Reguilon. But Switzerland held on to one point.
