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Lovren banned from Croatia's 1st Euro qualifier after social media outburst

Shaun Brooks / Action Plus / Getty

Croatian defender Dejan Lovren was suspended from his country's opening Euro 2020 qualifier against Azerbaijan in March because of insulting remarks he made toward Spain last November.

Lovren mocked the 2010 World Cup winners and divisive center-back Sergio Ramos in an Instagram video shortly after Croatia's 3-2 win over Spain. He also suggested he elbowed Ramos on purpose during the Nations League contest, according to Reuters.

UEFA said in a statement Friday that the Liverpool defender violated Article 11 (2) of the Disciplinary Regulations that highlights "the basic rules of decent conduct."

After the 3-2 win, Lovren said he "elbowed Ramos good" before calling the rest of the team "a bunch of p------," according to Spanish newspaper AS.

Lovren has taken several shots at the defender since Liverpool lost to Ramos' Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Bad blood remains from a first-half incident between Ramos and Mohamed Salah that forced the Egyptian into an early substitution. Salah also missed significant minutes during the 2018 World Cup.

Prior to his comments in November, Lovren told YouTube channel Copa90 that Ramos made more mistakes than him and benefited from playing for Madrid.

Croatia was relegated to Nations League B despite the victory.

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