Raul

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who is raul? is he a star? can you tell me?

that guy just rox...hard!!

hes a star, but in the past..

yes it's a legend already...:)

i agree with you raul is star of real madrid. but they have many star soccer player like ronaldo, daveid beckham and many more. he is just one of their star player. didnt it???

Raúl González Blanco, usually referred to simply as Raúl, (born June 27, 1977) is a Spanish football forward. He has been playing for Real Madrid at senior level since 1994, where he is the team captain. He has played more than 100 games for the Spanish national team, and is its all-time leading goal scorer with 47 goals. He represented Spain in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004 and 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Raúl is also currently 12th highest goalscorer in the history of Spain's top flight, with 185 goals in 418 games. All of these goals were for Real Madrid, making Raúl the club's third highest goalscorer of all time. This might improve as Raúl is still playing for the club.

When playing, he wears jersey number 7 for both club and country.
Playing style

Raúl is a striker who is able to link attack and midfield effectively. He runs non-stop, and supports his team like a real capitan. He is the (engine) of the team.

At 1.80m in height and just over 68 kg, Raúl is very mobile and light on his feet, and likes to switch positions or go out wide. He can put his team-mates through into great positions, and create chances for himself even against the toughest markers.

Many Real Madrid and Spain coaches have struggled to find Raúl's most effective position. Although originally an out-and-out striker, his most prolific years were in the late 1990s partnered by Fernando Morientes, a taller and more natural target man. Since Morientes' departure in the summer of 2003, Raúl has variously been played as a second striker off Ronaldo or Ruud van Nistelrooy, or as a left-winger. For the Spanish national side at the 2006 World Cup, Raúl pushed Luis García out of the side to play 'in the hole' behind two strikers, Fernando Torres and David Villa, with wingers José Antonio Reyes and Joaquín Sánchez kept on the bench.

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Biography

Raúl was born in the Madrid suburb of San Cristobal de Los Ángeles. After winning his spurs as a member of provincial amateur team San Cristobal de Los Angeles, his father signed him up for the Atlético Madrid youth team at the age of 13. Raúl rose through the ranks, winning the national title with the Under-15 youth team, and seemed destined to join the professional side when Atletico President Jesús Gil dissolved the club's entire youth scheme in an effort to save money.

Deprived of a team to play for, Raul turned to local rivals Real Madrid, where success was quickly forthcoming. He began the 1994-95 season in Real's "C" team, and scored 13 goals in the first seven games. In October 1994, head coach Jorge Valdano picked the gifted teenager in his first team. At just 17 years and four months, Raul became the youngest player ever to wear a Real Madrid shirt. In doing so, he nudged aside 1991 Pichichi Trophy winner Emilio Butragueño, and was soon well on the way to becoming Spain's new sensation. He scored nine times in his first season from 28 appearances, including one in his second game against Atletico, and won the Spanish La Liga championship. Raúl made his national team debut against the Czech Republic in October 1996. Raúl's performances for Spain have since mirrored the nation's fortunes, Spain being dubbed the "greatest underachievers" in international football.

Raúl was a key player in Real Madrid's six big titles from 1998 to 2003. With Real, he won three European UEFA Champions League trophies in 1998, 2000 and 2002, scoring the clinching goal in the 2000 Champions League final. On the domestic scene, he won three Spnaish La Liga championships in 1997, 2001 and 2003. After Fernando Hierro retired from the Spanish national team in 2002, Raúl became the captain for Real Madrid and Spain.

Ever since 2003, he has been under heavy criticism by the media and part of the supporters because of his poor performances in the last four years, in which Real Madrid struggled to win a title in Spain and in the European competitions, with no success in either of them. These struggles have seen Raúl relegated at times to the substitutes bench by both club and country, leaving questions as to how much he might have in the tank.It is widely rumoured that the primary reason why Raul starts in the Real Madrid line-up is because he has tremendous influence in Madrid .

On 28 September 2005 against Greek power Olympiakos, his 97th UEFA Champions League match, he became the first player to score 50 goals in the history of the tournament, passing Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano. He is currently the top goal scorer of the competition, with 56 goals, scoring the last two in the 1st leg of their knockout stage match-up against Bayern Munich. When he led out the Spanish team against San Marino in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 12 October 2005, he surpassed his predecessor as Spain captain, Fernando Hierro, as the most-capped outfield player (i.e., not a goalkeeper) in Spanish history.

On June 19, with a goal against Tunisia, Raúl became the 18th player to score in 3 different editions of the FIFA World Cup. He has scored in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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Personal life

Raúl grew up in a modest neighbourhood of Madrid, in the suburb Marconi de San Cristóbal de los Ángeles. His father, don Pedro, was a fan of Atlético Madrid, the club where he started playing after a short period in San Cristóbal's team. Atlético Madrid coaches did not notice anything special about him because he was very thin and weak. Raul later turned to Real Madrid's C team and quickly made it to the first team in 1994-95 season.

Raúl possesses a distinctive celebration, with each goal acclaimed by a kiss of his wedding ring, an acknowledgement to his wife Mamen Sanz. They have four sons: Jorge (February 25, 2000), who is named after Jorge Valdano, Hugo (November 20, 2002),who is also named after Raul's childhood hero Hugo Sanchez and twins Héctor and Mateo (November 17, 2005). He likes reading, especially the books of Arturo Pérez Reverte, and listening to all sorts of Spanish music. He also enjoys hunting and watching bullfighting.

Fernando Morientes is a very close friend of Raul's. The two formed a very deadly striker partnership for Real Madrid and the Spanish national squad between 1998 and 2002, until Morientes was replaced by Ronaldo in the Real Madrid starting eleven. Morientes and Raul are still best friends, and Raul was often spotted at Anfield Road in the 2005-06 English Premiership season while he was sidelined with an injury, watching Morientes play for Liverpool. Morientes and Raul have also gone on vacations together, with their families.



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Honours
Club
Spanish La Liga: 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003
Spanish Super Cup: 1997, 2001 and 2003
UEFA Champions League: 1998, 2000 and 2002
European Super Cup: 2002
Intercontinental Cup: 1998 and 2002
Individual
Pichichi Trophy: 1999 and 2001
Spanish Player of the Year: 1996-97 season
UEFA Club Football Best Forward Award: 2000, 2001 and 2003
1998 Intercontinental Cup Man of the Match
1999 IFFHS World Goalgetter
2000 Spanish outstanding sportsman
2 x UEFA Champions League Top Scorer (99-00, 00-01)
2006 Royal Order's gold medal for Sports Merit
Bronze Boot of Europe: 1999, 2001
2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, Bronze award
2001 European Footballer of the Year, Silver award
Achievements
Scored the 800th goal in Spain's national team history, March 27, 1999 vs Austria
Scored the 900th goal in Spain's national team history, September 7, 2002 vs Greece
Spanish national team all-time leading scorer
Most appearances for an outfield player in the Spanish national team
Top active scorer in La Liga
Top UEFA Champions League appearance[1]
UEFA Champions League all-time leading scorer with 56 goals
2 goals in 3 UEFA Champions League Finals
most scorer against barcelona in real madrid history (10 goles)

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Quotes
Jesús Gil (29/10/99): "Raúl is my black beast".[2]
Fabio Capello (15/11/99): "He is a winner. He is the inheritance of Real Madrid".[2]
Javier Clemente (01/04/00): "Raúl is the best forward in the world".[2]
Jose Mourinho (23/4/00): "Raul may be a wanker, but he is a wanker that scores great goals".[2]
Franz Beckenbauer (09/05/00): "Raúl is one of the best of Europe. He is Real Madrid's spirit. He is like Matthäus for us: indispensable, and with a bad haircut".[2]
Thierry Henry (25/06/00): "When he plays, in his mind there is only the goal; it's the football essence. Every time they do something, you stand up over your seat".[2]
Sir Alex Ferguson (08/04/03): "I hope he doesn't like travelling, Failing that we will stop him entering the country. Real buy these big players like Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo but I think the best player in the world is Raul".
David Trézéguet (08/05/03): "We all know what Raul represents, not only for his team, but also for football".
Zinedine Zidane: "For me i would say my favourite players in europe are Raul and Figo."
Ottmar Hitzfeld (15/02/07) - Days before the Bayern vs. Madrid Match: "I would buy Raul at this minute, if it was possible. His a "Crack" (a "match changing" player) and I love everything about him. He has a great career behind him. In my opinion, now, is the best time to buy him, he has maturity as much as experience".

related resource: gold wedding ring

Raul is one of the best strikers in the world! He may not have been in the greatest form ever in the past few seasons but I am pretty sure his goal-scoring ways will soon be revived. He has a couple of seasons before he retires, I think we will be able to see his full potential again before he does that. He is a legend for Real Madrid and they are a extremely lucky team to have a good team leader and good player like Raul. I as a 100% Real Madrid fan thank Raul for all he has done for the club. RAUL ROX!