Raúl González

For other people named Raúl González, see Raúl González (disambiguation).
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Blanco.
Raúl

Raúl playing for Schalke 04.
Personal information
Full name Raúl González Blanco
Date of birth 27 June 1977 (1977-06-27) (age 34)
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1][2]
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current club Schalke 04
Number 7
Youth career
1987–1990 San Cristóbal de los Ángeles
1990–1992 Atlético Madrid
1992–1994 Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1994 Real Madrid C 7 (13)
1994 Real Madrid B 1 (0)
1994–2010 Real Madrid 550 (228)
2010– Schalke 04 51 (23)
National team‡
1994 Spain U18 2 (4)
1995 Spain U20 5 (3)
1995–1996 Spain U21 9 (8)
1996 Spain U23 4 (2)
1996–2006 Spain 102 (44)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:00, 17 December 2011 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:00, 6 September 2006(UTC)

Raúl González Blanco (born 27 June 1977 in Madrid, Spain), known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for German club Schalke 04.[3] Raúl had spent most of his career playing for Spanish club Real Madrid and is the club's all-time top goalscorer. Raúl is a three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League and has long been the competition's all-time leading goalscorer. He left Real Madrid on 25 July 2010, having scored 323 goals in 741 appearances, and joined Schalke.[4][5][6][7]

Contents

Club career

Youth clubs

Raúl González's career began at his local team C.D. San Cristóbal de los Ángeles playing for their Alevín team and the Infantil the next season. He signed with Atlético Madrid's Infantil team and won a national title with the Cadete team the following season. Following Atlético's then-president Jesús Gil decision to close their youth academy as a cost-saving measure, Raúl moved on to Real Madrid's Cadete team. The following season, he was promoted to the Juvenil C team and subsequently went on to play for their Juvenil B and Juvenil A team.

Real Madrid

He started his professional career in the 1994–95 season with Real Madrid C, he scored 13 goals in just 7 games and swiftly promoted to the first team by coach Jorge Valdano, replacing the legendary figure of Emilio Butragueño in a highly symbolic "passing of the crown". He became the youngest player (17 years and 124 days) ever to play for the senior side, (even though the record was finally broken by Alberto Rivera, at the late of that season) and on 29 October 1994 in an away game against Real Zaragoza in La Romareda, he created a goal for strike partner Iván Zamorano and impressing observers with all-round play of startling precocity, and heralding the demise of Butragueño in the process. The very next week, Raúl scored his first goal in his second senior game on a home debut against the rival and also Raúl's former youth club, Atlético Madrid in a bitter derby match. Duly establishing himself as a fixture in the first team, Raúl registered a total of nine goals in 28 appearances to help Real Madrid win the 1994–95 league championship in his first season.

With Real Madrid, he won several honours, including further La Liga titles in 1996–97 (scoring 21 La Liga goals), 2000–01 (scoring 24 La Liga goals), and 2002–03 (scoring 16 La Liga goals in a campaign truncated by a bout of appendicitis for which Raúl was hospitalized). During the period 1998–2002, Raúl and Real Madrid also won three UEFA Champions League trophies (1998, 2000 and 2002). For most of this time, Raúl struck up a prolific scoring partnership with Fernando Morientes (and later Ronaldo). Raúl took over the captaincy of Real Madrid when Fernando Hierro was transferred in 2003, a responsibility he held until leaving the club in 2010. Despite appearing in two finals, in 2002 (in which he scored) and 2004, Raúl never lifted the Copa del Rey.

He became the first player to score fifty Champions League goals when he netted in a 2–1 group stage win over Olympiacos on 28 September 2005,[8] and continues to be the all-time leader in appearances (128).[9] He was also the first player to score in two Champions League finals, netting in the finals of both 2000 against Valencia in Stade de France, Saint-Denis and 2002 against Bayer Leverkusen in Hampden Park, Glasgow. Samuel Eto'o later equaled this feat, scoring in the 2006 against Arsenal and in 2009 against Manchester United with Lionel Messi also scored in the same match and later scored in 2011 against the same team.

Raúl holds the distinction of having never received a red card throughout his 17 years at the professional level.[10] On 11 November 2008, Raúl scored his 300th goal for Real Madrid with a hat-trick against Real Unión, with Real winning the game 4–3 but being eliminated on away goals after draw 6–6 on aggregate.[11] In total, Raúl scored 323 goals for Real Madrid, breaking the long-standing club record of Alfredo Di Stéfano with a volleyed goal against Sporting Gijon on 15 February 2009. He is also the top active La Liga goalscorer with 228 goals in La Liga matches,[12] and is presently third on the all-time list, which is headed by Telmo Zarra with 252 goals.[13] Raúl holds the record of all-time top La Liga scorer for Real Madrid with 228, a record previously held by Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Raúl and fellow long-serving teammate Iker Casillas were both awarded 'contracts for life' in 2008 (the terms of which stipulate that it will be renewed annually for as long as they play 30 games each season).[14] On 23 September 2009, Raúl equalled former veteran and legend Manolo Sanchís' league appearance record for Real Madrid,[15] and is second in La Liga behind Andoni Zubizarreta who played 622 games.[16]

Raúl's last touch with the ball as Real Madrid player before an injury ruled him out of action for the rest of that season was to score his last goal, an opening goal scored on 24 April 2010 in a 1–2 away victory against Real Zaragoza in La Romareda (the stadium where he made his first debut back in 1994). It was scored on 50' minutes after Raúl (himself only on the pitch as a substitute for Rafael van der Vaart on 15' minutes) had signalled that he could not physically continue and was prepared to be substituted by Karim Benzema one minute after the goal.[17] Before the substitution could be made, Real Madrid launched a counter-attack to create a goal. Though Raúl ran to a slow hobble, he shuffled into the box and was able to poke the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo's cross.

Having spent the rest of the season recovering from that injury, the club confirmed on 25 July 2010 that Raúl would be leaving the club, a day after his teammate Guti confirmed he was leaving too after 15 years.[5] Although new coach José Mourinho wanted Raúl to continue, Raúl did not want to spend another season as third or fourth choice striker and he thought that it was better if he left as he was still able to deliver a good performance in another club.[5]

Schalke 04

Raúl signed a two-year contract with FC Schalke 04 on 28 July 2010. Schalke coach Felix Magath hailed the signing and told the club website,"It's great news for FC Schalke 04, I am pleased that we have succeeded in signing such an exceptional footballer and world-class striker switching to the Bundesliga for Schalke 04."[3] He scored his first goal for the club during his first match on 1 August 2010 with a brace in a 3–1 victory over Bayern Munich in the final match pre-season competition LIGA total! Cup 2010. One week later, he made his official match debut in the 2010 DFL-Supercup on 7 August 2010 against Bayern Munich again, but this time he failed to score in the 2–0 defeat match. Raul made his official Bundesliga debut on 21 August 2010, in a 2–1 defeat against Hamburg.[18] and scored his first goal for Schalke in Bundesliga against Mönchengladbach on 25 September 2010 in a 2–2 draw.[19] After a quiet start he has rediscovered his goalscoring form in the Bundesliga with a brace against St. Pauli on 5 November 2010 in a 3–0 win, and on 20 November 2010 he scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over Werder Bremen. On 18 December 2010 he scored his second hat-trick for Schalke in a 3–0 win against Köln.

Raúl scored another crucial goal on 2 March 2011 in a 0–1 victory over the arch-rival, Bayern Munich in the semifinal of 2010–11 DFB-Pokal. After absent for 6 years, Schalke ultimately reached the finals since 2005. In the final match, they played against MSV Duisburg, the first 2. Fußball-Bundesliga team which reached the final since 2004. Raúl never won a domestic cup with Real Madrid (the Copa del Rey), but on 21 May 2011, in his first season, he finally won a domestic cup and got his maiden trophy with his new club. They won the tournament with a 0–5 win in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. This success was followed with victory two months later on 23 July 2011 in the 2011 DFL-Supercup against the league champions and rivals Borussia Dortmund.

In European play, Raúl has since become the highest goal scorer in all UEFA competitions with 73 goals, ahead of A.C. Milan veteran Filippo Inzaghi with 70 goals. He scored 71 goals in UEFA Champions League (66 goals with Real Madrid and 5 with Schalke 04) and addition his two goals with the capital side, one goal in 2000 UEFA Super Cup and the other one in 1998 Intercontinental Cup (also commonly referred to as EUSA Cup). On 22 October 2010, the former Spanish international scored twice against Hapoel Tel Aviv in a 3–1 win, which tied him with German legend Gerd Müller for the most number of European goals. Raúl duly broke this record on 15 February 2011 on his return to Spain, with a crucial away goal in the last 16 tie against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in a 1–1 draw. In the quarter-finals, Raúl scored two goals against Internazionale. He scored one goal in the first leg, a 2–5 away win in San Siro and one goal in the second leg, a 2–1 home win in Veltins-Arena. Schalke progressed to the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history, where they played against Manchester United. Schalke lost the first game 0–2, which was their first home defeat this season in this tournament and lost again 4–1 in Old Trafford. On 19 November 2011, he captained Schalke 04 for the first time due to an injury of Benedikt Höwedes in a 4–0 home win against 1. FC Nuremberg, he also scored the 2–0 and assisted the 4–0 in that game.

Raúl scored another hat-trick against Werder Bremen on 17 December 2011.[20] The goals came in a 5–0 thumping that cemented Schalke's position in third place going into the winter break.[21]

International career

Raúl began his Spain career at youth level and represented the nation at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1995, scoring three goals from five matches. In total, Rául scored 17 goals at the various youth levels for Spain. With the senior team, Raúl went on for many years to score a national record 44 goals in 102 caps for Spain. Though David Villa later equaled Raúl's record in 2010, and surpassed it on 25 March 2011 in the Euro 2012 qualifier.

Of his 44 international goals, Raúl scored 32 goals in competitive games, 6 of which were in the finals of major tournaments and 12 others on friendly games. On 27 March 1999, in Euro 2000 qualifier, Raúl scored four goals, one of his only two international hat-tricks, during Spain's 9–0 rout of Austria.[22] He scored another international hat-trick four days later, against San Marino during the same qualifying tournament.

Raúl took over the team captaincy following the retirement of Fernando Hierro in 2002 and skippered the national side for four years.

Curiously, Raúl's international career would begin and end with omissions from Spanish squads for European Championships tournaments. In spite of a successful first two seasons of senior football, Raúl was not chosen by then-coach Javier Clemente for Euro 1996 in England. Instead, Raúl had to wait until October 1996 to earn his first senior cap against the Czech Republic, before opening his international goal tally with a strike on his second appearance against Yugoslavia. Raúl went on to participate in three World Cups from 1998 to 2006, along with Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, scoring at least one goal in each of the three World Cup competitions. At 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored 3 goals in the group phase before injuring himself against the Republic of Ireland in Spain's fourth game and missing the remainder of the tournament.

Raúl has not been chosen for the national team since September 2006, following a 3–2 defeat against Northern Ireland in Belfast (a game in which Raúl hit the post late on), including the UEFA Euro 2008 final tournament, as Luis Aragonés preferred Fernando Torres and David Villa as his first choice strike force. Raúl's clubmate and goalkeeper Iker Casillas succeeded him as captain and also lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, which Spain also won.

Sid Lowe of The Guardian wrote in 2004 that Raúl had tried to undermine Michael Owen during his period with Real Madrid, exerting his influence on then manager José Antonio Camacho,[23] whilst Nicolas Anelka and Cicinho were also critical of Raúl's influence.

Personal life

Early in his career, Raúl's goal celebration consisted of kissing his wedding ring as an acknowledgment to his wife Mamen Sanz whom he married in 1999 and with whom he has four sons and a daughter: Jorge, named after Jorge Valdano, Hugo, twins Héctor and Mateo[24] and María.[25] He enjoys listening to Spanish music and reading, especially the books of Arturo Pérez Reverte.

On 16 October 2004, Raúl González Blanco was appointed as FAO Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations.

Honours

Club

Real Madrid

Schalke 04

Country

Spain youth teams

Individual

*Most winner.
*Use the same rule before the trophy was awarded.
*Most winner.

Records

*Includes other European competitive competitions, including the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup.
^^Includes other European competitive competitions and Intercontinental Cup.

Orders

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 December 2011
Club Season League Cup Europe1 Other2 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Madrid 1994–95 28 9 2 1 0 0 — 30 10
1995–96 40 19 2 1 8 6 2 0 52 26
1996–97 42 21 5 1 — — 47 22
1997–98 35 10 1 0 11 2 2 3 49 15
1998–99 37 25 2 0 8 3 2 1 49 29
1999–00 34 17 4 0 15 10 4 2 57 29
2000–01 36 24 0 0 12 7 2 1 50 32
2001–02 35 14 6 6 12 6 2 3 55 29
2002–03 31 16 2 0 12 9 2 0 47 25
2003–04 35 11 7 6 9 2 2 1 53 20
2004–05 32 9 1 0 10 4 — 43 13
2005–06 26 5 0 0 6 2 — 32 7
2006–07 35 7 1 0 7 5 — 43 12
2007–08 37 18 1 0 8 5 2 0 48 23
2008–09 37 18 1 3 7 3 2 0 47 24
2009–10 30 5 2 0 7 2 — 39 7
Total 550 228 37 18 132 66 22 11 741 323
Schalke 04 2010–11 34 13 4 1 12 5 1 0 51 19
2011–12 17 10 3 2 5 1 1 0 26 13
Total 51 23 7 3 17 6 2 0 77 32
Career totals 601 251 44 21 149 72 24 11 818 355
1Played in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League.
2Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and DFL-Supercup.

International

As of 6 September 2006[32][33]
Spain national team
Year Apps Goals
1996 4 1
1997 6 0
1998 10 4
1999 9 10
2000 11 3
2001 9 5
2002 9 6
2003 10 8
2004 13 3
2005 12 2
2006 9 2
Total 102 44

International goals

As of 19 June 2006[33]

Career totals

Professional career totals
Teams Appearances Goals Goals per game
Clubs 818 355 0.43
National team 0102 044 0.43
Olympic final 04 02 0.5
Total 924 401 0.43

References

  1. ^ "Raúl". FC Schalke 04. 1 September 2010. http://www.schalke04.com/teams/team.html?player=111&cHash=ed539e457f. Retrieved 1 September 2010. 
  2. ^ "Raúl". FC Schalke 04. 1 September 2010. http://www.schalke04.de/teams/bundesligakader/7-raul.html. Retrieved 1 September 2010. 
  3. ^ a b "Raul signs for Schalke". FIFA.com. FIFA. 28 July 2010. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1278675.html?cid=rssfeed&att=. Retrieved 28 July 2010. 
  4. ^ "Emotional Raul leaves Madrid". ESPN Soccernet. 26 July 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=810297&sec=europe&cc=5901. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  5. ^ a b c "Real confirm Raul's Bernabeu departure". RTÉ Sport. 26 July 2010. http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0725/raul_realmadrid.html. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  6. ^ "Real Madrid confirm Raul exit". ESPN Soccernet. 26 July 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=810211&sec=transfers&cc=5739&cc=5901. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  7. ^ Peter-Joseph Hegarty (26 July 2010). "Raul Gonzalez, Guti Poised to Leave Real Madrid, Sky Sports Reports". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-25/raul-gonzalez-guti-poised-to-leave-real-madrid-sky-sports-reports.html. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 
  8. ^ "Sport / Football : Fifty not out for Raúl Gonzalez". The Hindu. 30 September 2005. http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/30/stories/2005093007521800.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  9. ^ "Defeat mars Raúl record". UEFA.com. 22 February 2007. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=1/newsId=396659.html. Retrieved 13 December 2007. 
  10. ^ "The captain hasn't been booked in two and a half years (Raúl, a gentleman of fair play)". Real Madrid. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071010015518/http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma39016.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2007. 
  11. ^ "Raúl alcanza los 300 goles". Real Madrid. 12 November 2008. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/es/1202754820540/noticia/Noticia/Raul_alcanza_los_300_goles.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  12. ^ "Raúl celebró su partido 500 en Liga con un gol". Marca.com. 11 January 2009. http://archivo.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/real_madrid/es/desarrollo/1197432.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  13. ^ La Liga All time top scorers Wikipedia
  14. ^ "Raúl and Casillas commit to Real". FIFA.com. 14 February 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=691686.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  15. ^ "Sanchís comments on Raúl's record". Real Madrid. 20 May 1998. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202792091404/noticia/Entrevista/Sanchis_comments_on_Raul_s_record.htm. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  16. ^ "Raúl mit Einsatzrekord". Transfermarkt.de. 24 September 2009. http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/news/31544/raul-mit-einsatzrekord.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  17. ^ "Real maintain pressure at summit". ESPNsoccernet. 24 April 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report/_/id/275649?cc=4716. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  18. ^ "Van Nistelrooy brace sinks Schalke". ESPN Soccernet. 21 August 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=297154&cc=5739&league=GER.1. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "Raul rescues Schalke late on". ESPN Soccernet. 25 September 2010. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=296968&cc=5739&league=GER.1. Retrieved 20 October 2010. 
  20. ^ "Schalke 04 5-0 Werder Bremen". ESPN Soccernet. 17 December2011. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=320898&cc=5901. Retrieved 17 December2011. 
  21. ^ "Five-goal Schalke sink Bremen". FIFA.com. 17 December2011. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1558973.html. Retrieved 17 December2011. 
  22. ^ SOC: Spain 9 Austria 0 result – AAP Sports News, reprinted on highbeam.com (Partial article)
  23. ^ Lower, Sid (12 November 2004). "Owen is no longer a hidden extra". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2004/nov/12/sport.comment1. Retrieved 2011-10-27. 
  24. ^ "Das Vorzeigespielerpaar um Raúl González Blanco". EM 2008. http://www.em-08.info/spielerfrauen/mamen_sanz/. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  25. ^ "Nace María González, hija de Raúl González". AS.com. 1 January 2007. http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/nace-maria-gonzalez-hija-raul/dasftb/20091204dasdasftb_36/Tes. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
  26. ^ "Raúl wins the Di Stéfano Trophy". Real Madrid. 20 May 2008. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202736803447/noticia/Noticia/Raul_wins_the_Di_Stefano_Trophy.htm. Retrieved 6 August 2008. 
  27. ^ "Di Stéfano's worthy heir". Real Madrid. 14 September 2008. http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202742030292/noticia/Noticia/Di_Stefano_s_worthy_heir.htm. Retrieved 14 September 2008. 
  28. ^ "Raúl gana el I Trofeo Di Stéfano". Marca.com. 7 July 2011. http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/otras/es/desarrollo/1125170.html. Retrieved 7 July 2011. 
  29. ^ "Raúl recibe el MARCA Leyend". Marca.com. 3 March 2009. http://www.marca.com/2009/03/03/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1236104117.html. Retrieved 11 February 2011. 
  30. ^ "Grateful Spain rewards Raúl". UEFA. 25 May 2006. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=424494.html. Retrieved 7 July 2008. 
  31. ^ "Raúl recibirá la Medalla de Oro de Madrid". Marca.com. 5 March 2009. http://www.marca.com/2009/03/05/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1236257456.html. Retrieved 5 March 2009. 
  32. ^ Raúl National Football Teams
  33. ^ a b "Raúl González Blanco – Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 3 November 2006. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/raul-intlg.html. Retrieved 11 July 2008. 

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Fernando Hierro		 Spain national football team captain
2002–2006		 Succeeded by
Iker Casillas
Preceded by
Fernando Hierro		 Real Madrid C.F. captain
2003–2010		 Succeeded by
Iker Casillas
FC Schalke 04 – current squad