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Sergio Ramos to miss semi final clash against Club America

Internet Desk: It seems there is a love affair between Cristiano Ronaldo and controversy. The Ballon d’Or winner was asked to leave the training pitch at Yokohama International Stadium ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup semi final clash against Club America on Wednesday night.

As part of the tight regulated schedule none of the semi-finalist teams Real Madrid and Club America were allowed onto the training pitch until their programmed start time. Real footballers were waiting for their schedule start of practice at 17:30 local time. As is customary, some players arrived to training a bit early, and started to make their way towards the pitch with 10 minutes to spare.

Nonetheless, the tournament committee wanted to make sure Real didn't receive a single minute more than their allotted 45, and the same strict adherence to schedule was then replicated with Club America as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco both tried to walk onto the pitch on separate occasions before it was time, in order to retrieve a ball they had been kicking about, and in the process received a stern reprimand from the FIFA officials. Both the players were asked to leave the practice ground.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane does not want to read too much into the incident. The gaffer said, "His motivation is tremendous. He wants to win in a friendly and in the match that we have at the end of training. I'm not worried about his motivation. Any other player could come along and I don’t think that he will ever achieve what Cristiano has done. Winning the Ballon d'Or four times is not easy, it's unbelievable. He could win the Ballon d'Or again".

Meanwhile, Zinedine Zidane will be forced to leave his inspirational captain Sergio Ramos for the semi final clash on Thursday. Ramos hasn’t trained with the team in the last two days due to muscular discomfort and a minor leg injury.

Since arriving in Yokohama, the defender has trained separately, and it isn't clear yet if he'd be available for Sunday's final were Real Madrid to advance.

Ramos picked up a minor knock against Deportivo La Coruna.

The Real Madrid coach did confirm Ramos’ unavailabity for Thursday nights clash, "TomorrowRamos will not play. It's nothing but he’s suffering a bit after the trip. He's a bit tired and he's a bit overloaded. He will not play tomorrow and we will see for Sunday".

The Los Blancos are having a dream run, winning its last 35 matches. Asked to comment on the recent form of his team, a cautious Zidane said,"You can win 35 games and then lose the 36^th and you’re in trouble. We are focused on what we have to do tomorrow. You can win 45 or 50 matches and in the next one you have to do the same and win again. Tomorrow is an important match and gives us the opportunity to get in to the final. We want to win and we will try to do everything we can to win the competition".

The Spanish giants are tipped as the favourites to win the FIFA Club World Cup. Zidane is not thinking on those lines. "I do not think we're favourites. We're going to have to play a game that...we’ll have to be careful. A lot of people may think that we will win easily. We are going to play against a very good opponent that can cause us problems. The game is not won and that's what I'm going to tell my team," said Zidane ahead of the semi final.

⚽ #RMCWC L'équipe continue de préparer sa demi-finale du Mondial des Clubs!#HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/ByFOXG6qHb

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadridfra) December 13, 2016