Raul Gonzales's Life and Career Journey in Football

Raul Gonzalez Blanco, born on June 27, 1977 in Madrid, a suburb of San Cristobal de Los Angeles. After becoming a member of the San Cristobal de Los Angeles amateur team, his father registered Raul with the Atletico Madrid youth team at the age of 13.

His father, Don Pedro, is a fan of Atletico Madrid, which is the club where Raul played after a short period of time at the San Cristobal club.

Raul then only moved to Real Madrid after Atletico closed their academy as part of the tightening of the club's budget. In addition, the Atletico Madrid coaches had not previously seen anything special in Raul because he was very thin and weak.

After leaving Atletico, Raul became part of the Real Madrid C team and immediately entered the first team in the 1994/95 season.

In 1995, Raul also helped the perfect career in the Spanish national team. As one of the youngest players on the team, Raul helped bring Spain to the U-20 World Cup semifinals in 1995. Some Asian players who will skyrocket his name in the European league also dropped in the tournament, such as Mark Viduka from Australia and Hidetoshi Nakata from Japan.

Raul began his career in the senior Real Madrid national team at the age of 17 years and four months. It was Jorge Valdano who promoted him and since then he has not been displaced from El Real's main squad.

For Madridista in the 90s, the name Raul was an icon of pride for Spain and Real Madrid. If in the starting line-up there is the name of the owner of number 7, Madrid fans do not need to have excessive anxiety. Because, a Raul always shows his strength as a savior for Real Madrid. Angel Cappa, a former Real Madrid assistant coach, described Raul as a player who suddenly was perfect when he was on the pitch.

However, it should be noted that when he debuted with Real Madrid, the man who listed various gold inks in Madrid's goalscorers began his career at the Santiago Bernabeu with less convincing. Raul failed to take advantage of a myriad of golden opportunities in his first match with Los Blancos, namely against Zaragoza on 29 October 1994.

After his first barren match, Raul faced Atletico in the second party to strengthen Madrid. This time he immediately took advantage of the opportunity and recorded the first goal of the match in the derby which ended 4-2 for Madrid.

Raul has a flexible playing style. Although he prefers to be positioned as a pure striker, he also does not refuse when positioned as a hole attacker even as an attacking midfielder. His appearance did not even disappoint and deserves praise.

Raul's former teammate Fernando Hierro once said that the striker had no advantage in one area. But Raul is talented in all criteria. He is the king and always performs optimally in every game.

Raul himself always celebrates goals by kissing his wedding ring on his right finger since marrying supermodel, Mamen Sanz, in July 1999. The celebration has become one of the most iconic goal celebrations in the world of football until now.

They have 4 sons. His first child named Jorge was born February 25, 2000.

His name was taken from Jorge Valdanao who used to be a soccer player from Argentina. His second child, Hugo, was born November 20, 2002. His name was taken from Raul's childhood hero, Hugo Sanchez. Her 3rd and 4th children are twins Hector and Mateo who were born November 17, 2005.

He likes to read, especially books by Arturo Perez Reverte and he likes to listen to various types of Spanish songs. He also enjoys hunting and watching bull fights.

Raul was a key player in Real Madrid's 6 major titles from 1998 to 2003. With Real, he won 3 European championships (UEFA Champions League) in 1998, 2000 and 2002. He also scored the decisive goal in the 2000 Champions League final. .

Domestically, he won 5 Spanish La Liga trophies in 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008. After Fernando Hierro retired from the Spanish national team in 2002, Raul became captain for Real Madrid and Spain.

On September 28, 2005, he became the first player to score 50 goals in the UEFA Champions League in his 97th appearance, past Real Madrid legend Alfrado Di Stefano. At that time he played against the tough Olympiacos team from Greece.

His achievements in the Spanish national team also can not be underestimated. In addition to being the top scorer for Spain with 44 goals from 102 caps, in the 2006 World Cup qualifying match on October 12, 2005 when Spain faced San Marino, he surpassed Fernando Hierro's record as Spain's most featured captain in Spanish history.

On June 19, with a goal against Tunisia, Raul became the No. 18 player to score in 3 World Cups. He had previously scored at the 1998 World Cup, the 2002 World Cup and the 2006 World Cup.

Raul also ranked 12th for the top scorer in the history of Spanish football with 185 goals from 418 matches. Remarkably, all of these goals are for Real Madrid, and that makes him ranked third as the top scorer in Real Madrid of all time. When he played, he wore the number 7 shirt for Spain, Real Madrid, and his new club, Schalke 04.

Raul signed a two-year contract with Schalke 04 on July 28, 2010. The club, including coach Felix Magath, said he was very pleased with Raul's presence. The reason is, the star can change the image of the club and have a significant impact.

Right after two years defending Schalke, Raul announced that he would leave. Because it is deemed meritorious for the club, number 7 worn by Raul has been retired by Schalke. It became an award for players who are considered legendary.

After an adventure in Germany, Raul climbed into a career in Qatar. At that time he was interested in defending Al Sadd. In Qatar, Raul managed to donate two trophies before finally joining the New York Cosmos.

During his career in the world of football, in total, Raul has donated 21 titles for the team defended. In the end, Raul officially retired in November 2015.

Raul, who is a legend, has a lot of praise. Figo, one of the first generation players in the Galacticos carriage created by Florentino Perez expressed admiration for Raul. He said, "I have played a lot with good players, but Raul is from another dimension. I've never even seen a player as good as Raul Gonzalez. "

Zidane did not hesitate to agree with Figo. He firmly stated that Raul was the world's best player.

Santiago Canizares, the legendary goalkeeper of Spain and Valencia once called Raul a nightmare for him. Canizares described Raul as an attacker who was able to improvise in the opponent's penalty box and not be able to read his movements.

Sir Alex Ferguson, world famous coach, said that although Real Madrid had brought Zidane and Figo, Raul remained the best.