Sergio Ramos references Lionel Messi in retirement letter, no mention of Cristiano Ronaldo

Sergio Ramos expressed his admiration for his Paris Saint Germain colleague Lionel Messi and midfielder Luka Modric in his retirement letter. The 36-year-old announced his international retirement on Thursday as he issued a big statement on his official social media handle. However, The former Real Madrid defender will continue to ply his trade in club football for the time being.

Sergio Ramos hails Luka Modric and Lionel Messi

Surprisingly Sergio Ramos mostly played on the opposite side of Messi during his stint with Real Madrid in Spain as the Argentine forward was at the receiving end of his crunching tackle several times at Barcelona. But since the two stalwarts started playing together in Paris there seems to be a bond between the two as they have been playing at PSG for two seasons now.

Both Messi and Modric are still playing with their highest ability and especially the latter has shown a tremendous amount of intensity at this stage of his career. Ramos hails both players as he feels age hasn't had any adverse impact on their ability. 

“With a heavy heart, it’s the end of a road that I hoped would stretch out further and which would end with a better taste in my mouth, on a par with all the success we achieved with La Roja. I honestly believe that this journey deserved to end at my own choosing or because my performances were not at a level worthy of our national team.

“Not due to a question of age or other reasons that, although I have not heard them directly, I have certainly felt. Because age in itself is not a virtue or a defect; it’s just a number that is not necessarily related to performance or ability. I admire and envy players like [Luka] Modric, [Lionel] Messi and Pepe. They are the essence of tradition, values, meritocracy and justice in football.

“Unfortunately, it won’t be like that for me because football isn’t always fair and football is never just football."