Spain defender Sergio Ramos has taken his international goals tally to 23 with a double against Ukraine, making him the eighth highest scorer in his country’s history. It also makes him the highest scoring defender in international football history.
Ramos, boasting an admirable new viking beard, has taken his goalscoring heroics to new heights in the last 12 months or so. He broke double figures for Real Madrid in 2019, while his four goals for Spain helped them win their European Championship qualifying group with considerable ease.
In June, he became the top scoring defender in La Liga history with a goal against Eibar, and his latest goalscoring feat came on the international stage, as he hit the net twice against Ukraine.
¡Este gol de @SergioRamos es HISTÓRICO!
? 23er tanto con España
?? Ya es el 8??º jugador que más goles ha marcado con la @SeFutbol
? Supera a Passarella y ya es el defensa con más goles como internacional en la historia del fútbol mundial#SomosEspaña ??#SomosFederación pic.twitter.com/qohg3JzaYU
— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) September 6, 2020
When he headed in his second of the evening in the UEFA Nations League clash, it was his 23rd goal for Spain – meaning only seven players have scored more than he has for his country. Not bad going in itself.
In a tweet celebrating the goal, Spain also claim their captain has surpassed Argentina’s Daniel Passarella as the highest scoring defender in the history of international football.
That’s a difficult one to fact-check, but it certainly doesn’t seem far off the mark – other notably high scoring defenders such as Ronald Koeman and Laurent Blanc managed 14 and 16 respectively for their countries.
It might be that Ramos has more to his game than just shithousing and taking penalties – who’d have thought it?
Let’