Raul Gonzalez Blanco commonly known as Raul is best associated with one of the best clubs in Europe, rather Real Madrid was voted as the club of the century by FIFA and for the past 13 years the captain has made people around the world refer to him as "Raul Madrid". He was a youth player with city rivals Atletico Madrid before joining the youth team of Real. On October 29th 1994 Madrid coach Jorge Valdano gave a 17 year old a chance in an away game against Real Zaragoza. The 3-2 defeat that Real suffered and the 3 or so missed chances for Raul did not pour water on one of the biggest Spanish stars in the making.
Raul has not looked back since and in his 13 year with the club, having been rested against Deportivo in the first half he capped off his anniversary with a goal and unlike his debut there was a victory for Real. The Spanish giants were held together for years by another captain fantastic Fernando Hierro, who struggled towards the last few seasons. Real Madrid won the Spanish la Liga in 2003 but saw the exit of coach Vicente Del Bosque and the captain Hierro. Raul has been the Real first captain for the past 4 years and has been a terrific influence on the pitch and inside the dressing room.
Raul has come out of a lot of downs in his career, notably on his goal scoring numbers. He has been one of the first players affected by 5-6 different coaches at Real Madrid since the departure of Del Bosque. The Spanish striker is not new to scoring goals, but in the past few seasons people claimed that Raul is more of a burden to Real and that there is no value addition from him. He excels as a striker or as a second striker. His famous partnership with Fernando Morientes cannot be easily forgotten. Different coaches have tried playing him at different positions such as winger and Attacking midfielder, but this year Schuster has found the right spot for him and his partnership with Van Nistelrooy has been spectacular. He has scored in almost all games played this season both in the La liga and the Champions League.
He has all the qualities of a good center striker. He is by no means a huge guy, but Raul is exceptional in the air and his reaction and movement is just brilliant. Many Real Madrid fans would remember the superb connection between Roberto Carlos and Raul. The Brazilian by no means puts in finesse crosses but Raul would be there to react first in the box to almost all Roberto Carlos shot/crosses to tap in the goals. Raul has also benefited by playing alongside the likes of Zidane, Figo, Beckham and Ronaldo. He has slowed down over the years but his anticipation, movement and work rate is simply out of the world. The fact that Raul brings much more than goals to every game and that he wears his heart on his sleeve every Bernabeu fans scream for him each time he celebrates a goal "Raul style" by kissing his ring.
I have seen certain articles by my fellow bloggers that Raul has been inhibiting players like Sneijder who made a terrific start to his Real Madrid career. The Dutchman scored 4 goals in his first 3 games and since then has just not been seen anywhere during a game. Well in almost all player interviews there has been glowing references to Raul's leadership and motivational skills. Just because Raul is an old horse and may not be as effective as in his early 20s he is by no means lacking professionalism on the pitch. In the match against Werder Bremen Raul covered over 9000 meters and was constantly seen asking the youngsters to cover and close down players. Without a doubt Raul will have a lot of influence in the dressing room and the likes of Guti, Casillas and Salgado would be his favorites. But there has been other influential players at Madrid such as Roberto Carlos who played for nearly 12 years with the them and was one of the captains. Wesley Sneijder or any of the new signings cannot expect the support or respect of the Bernabeu faithfuls or anyone else unless they perform at the same level and bring some consistency to their game. Raul asking Sneijder and the other youngsters not to play well to cover his weaknesses is just ridiculous.
On the other hand Raul's influence on the Board and the dressing room was exceptionally beneficial to Real when Capello the coach last year had decided not to play David Beckham for the rest of the season after he had signed for MLS side LA Galaxy in January. It was Raul who met with the Chairman and resolved this issue. The result was an exceptional performance by Beckham in the last part of the season and thus earning the 30th Spanish title for Real Madrid. It is purely one professional standing up for another.
The bottom line is playing for Real Madrid for 13 years, that underlines Raul Gonzalez Blanco's talent. He said after his debut in an interview " I want to be number one, the best in the world."
Here is a look back at his statistics and a reminder to many:
League: 455 matches 191 goals
King's Cup: 37 matches 20 goals
Champions League: 111 matches 59 goals
Spanish National Team: 102 matches 44 goals
TITLES & HONOURS
5 Spanish Leagues
3 European Cups
2 InterContinental Cups
3 Spanish Super Cups
1 European Super Cup 1999
Pichichi Trophy 1997
Spanish Player of the Year 2000
UEFA Champions League Golden Boot 2001
Pichichi Trophy 2001
UEFA Champions League Golden Boot 2001
FIFA World Player of the Year, Bronze 2001
European Footballer of the Year, Silver 2004
FIFA 100 Greatest Living Footballers 2004
King's Cup Pichichi Trophy 2006
Royal Order's Gold Medal for Sports Merit
Most-capped outfield player on the Spanish national team
Spanish national team all-time leading scorer
Top active scorer in the Spanish League
Most UEFA Champions League appearances
All-time leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League
Here is a video which including his first Madrid pre-match team photo, his first goal and also some really fantastic goals. Also includes the famous goal against Valencia in the Champions League final when he ran the entire stretch of the pitch before side stepping the keeper to score.
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