Ramos reportedly leaving Spanish squad due to muscle injury against Croatia

Sergio Ramos will not return to the Spanish squad after a 3-2 loss to Croatia. He reportedly suffered an adductor injury after the match, despite being able to score a penalty kick. The Spanish National Team’s Twitter made the official announcement.

They announced that he will not make the trip to Las Palmas on Sunday, where Spain will host Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Gran Canaria.

Hopefully with Ramos taking precautionary measures during the rest of the international break, he will be ready in time for Eibar on the 24th. Obviously, it is unknown at this time just how serious the injury is but hopefully he makes a quick, successful recovery.

Asensio wants to make a bigger impact at Real Madrid

Just a couple days after saying it isn’t for him to lead the team, Marco Asensio has clarified a bit on his comments in an interview with RTVE.

“I’m still young, there are players that have to lead the team.”

“I want to make a bigger contribution to the club, to feel more important and I also need to have that confidence and for the club to give me that responsibility.”

There was a bit of confusion with Asensio’s comments, whether he was saying he didn’t want to lead the team or that he isn’t ready to lead the team. These newest comments would suggest he wants to lead, but is not a team leader yet.

The 22-year-old Asensio is of course expected to make the next big jump in his Madrid career soon, if not now. The expectations of him are to become the next big Spanish star at Real, but he clearly does not believe he is a team leader right now at his age.

That’s not to say we won’t be in the next few years, he clearly has said here that he wants to contribute to the team and wants the responsibility of being a main player for Real Madrid.

Cafu praises Vinicius, believes he will be a star

Brazilian legend and defender Cafu had some high praise to give Vinicius in an interview with Fox Sports Mexico. He has similar expectations of Vinicius that Roberto Carlos has echoed.

“Vinicius is not a star at Real Madrid at the moment, but he will be soon.”

“Nobody can ever truly replace Cristiano Ronaldo, because he was unique, a one-off, who created an unbelievably legacy of success at the club.”

“But what I see in Vinicius is special too, I believe he is the best candidate in football to replace Cristiano and to conquer the world with Madrid.”

“There needs to be a lot of patience from others and a lot of hard work.”

“Vinicius is going to triumph at Real Madrid, but he’s not a star yet. He can’t be compared now to Cristiano Ronaldo. Cristiano is Cristiano, with all the history at Real Madrid. He conquered everything there.”

“Vinicius has all to follow in his footsteps. He can be the new Cristiano, but he has to sweat a lot for that to happen.”

Like Roberto Carlos, as mentioned before, Cafu seems to believe that Vinicius has a very high ceiling that he will reach during his career. Obviously, comparing Vinicius’ potential to that of Cristiano Ronaldo is a bold statement, but not one that can’t be true.

Cafu makes sure to note that Vinicius is obviously not a club star just yet, but with much effort he can become the next big thing. What we’ve seen from Vinicius under Solari has been very encouraging, certainly deserving of more minutes.

At 18, it’s tough to start comparing Vinicius to Ronaldo, but it seems like Cafu believes Vinicius has that great potential and skillset within him.

The most important Cafu said here, which is absolutely true, is that patience needs to be required from others. He’s not going to become a star overnight, he will just have to work hard at it as he matures and gets more minutes in his game.