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Five shocking exclusions from international squads for major tournaments

Sergio Ramos is the most recent big-name casualty to miss out on making a major tournament after Luis Enrique left him out of his 24-man squad for Spain.

Sergio Ramos was a shock exclusion from Spain's 24-man squad for Euro 2020.

The omission of Ramos by Luis Enrique - the former coach of Barcelona - has left fans stunned despite an injury-hit season for the defender.

Ramos - Spain's most-capped player with 180 appearances - has won the World Cup as well as the European Championships twice.
Despite not being fully fit, the calibre and experience of Ramos is priceless.

From leaving out legends to in-form stars not getting a look in, Planet Sport looks at five other shocking exclusions from international squads.

Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti (2010)

Argentina qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in dramatic fashion following an early exit scare under the reigns of footballing legend, Diego Maradona.

Approaching the summer finals with a new lifeline, Maradona would shock the nation with his exclusions from the World Cup squad with not one but two Argentinian legends.

Inter Milan stars duo Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti were both surprisingly left out of the 30 man provisional squad.

The pair were widely expected to be occupying a starting place for the national team, nevermind missing out all together.
Both Cambiasso and Zanetti were coming off the back of a treble-winning season with Inter including a famous UEFA Champions League win.

They were instrumental to Jose Mourinho's side as they dominated Europe.

Jose Mourinho

Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho (centre) instructs his players Javier Zanetti (left) and Esteban Cambiasso (right) from the touchline during the match.

To make these exclusions even more shocking, Maradona handed spots to Newcastle's Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez, who had both spent the season plying their trade in the Sky-Bet Championship.
Argentina would subsequently exit the tournament in the quarter-finals following a 4-0 hammering by Germany. Maradona's decision had come back to bite him on the backside.

Paul Gascoigne (1998)

Paul Gascoigne will undoubtedly go down as one of the best and most entertaining players of all time to put on an England shirt.
Gascoigne was a key figure for England after they reached the semi-finals in both the 1990 World Cup tournament and 1996 Euros.
It was the latter tournament that Gascoigne would solidify his name as an England great following his heroics against rivals Scotland in the group stages.
However, only two years later Gascoigne was omitted from the squad.
Under the reign of Glenn Hoddle, Gascoigne was still a regular for England as they qualified for the 1998 World Cup tournament.
Gazza would not be included in the final squad and he shared his dissatisfaction.
It was reported that Hoddle was unimpressed with his fitness and partying habits, to which Gascoigne reacted in angry fashion and trashed Hoddle's room.

Leroy Sane (2018)

Approaching the 2018 World Cup tournament, Leroy Sane was in fine form for Manchester City and looked set to play a part in Germany's attempt at retaining their crown.
The young winger was coming off the back of an excellent season with City having been named Premier League's Young Player of the Year.
Not only this but Sane had helped City win the English domestic league with five games to spare. Sane chipped in with an impressive 14 goals and 19 assists in all competitions.
Sane had also featured in six of Germany's last seven games before the squads were announced and looked in contention to start.

However, Joachim Low - who will leave his role as Germany manager this summer - opted to give a place to former Bayer Leverkusen winger Julian Brandt instead.

Despite Sane looking like one of the most in-form wingers in Europe, he was not involved in the World Cup tournament, much to the frustrations of Germany fans as they exited the group stage.

Samir Nasri (2014)

With the 2014 World Cup tournament approaching, you wouldn't have been surprised to see Samir Nasri playing an important part for France.

The French midfielder was in the form of his life after helping guide Manchester City to the Premier League and League Cup.

Nasri had played a vital role in the club's success that year, often putting in fine performances at the heart of midfield.
However, his importance at club level was not reciprocated on the international stage.

France manager Didier Deschamps decided not to include the Premier League winner in his squad for the upcoming tournament.

Deschamps was reportedly unimpressed with his performances for the national team as well as his attitude when left out of games.

Ronaldinho (2010)

The two-time FIFA World Player of the Year may have been heading towards the end of his career but his exclusion from the 2010 World Cup squad for Brazil was still a major shock for fans across the globe.
While Ronaldinho had not featured much for Brazil prior to the tournament, he did have a resurgence in form for AC Milan.

Brazil's Ronaldinho (10) is shown in action against Japan in their World Cup match on Thursday, June 22, 2006, in Dortmund, Germany

The 2005 Ballon d'Or winner was arguably the player of the season for Milan, thriving on the left wing and finishing as the top assist maker in Serie A for the 2009/10 season.

Brazil wanted new faces in the squad and also overlooked Alexandre Pato and Adriano in their 23-man squad.

Once the greatest player in the world, Ronaldinho was deemed surplus to requirements.

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