Monday, September 19, 2005

Raul Gonzalez Bio

Raúl González Blanco, usually referred to simply as Raúl, was born in June 27, 1977 in Madrid. This spanish suoer striker has been playing for Real Madrid at senior level since 1994. He currently is the captain of both Real and the Spanish national team, being its all-time leading scorer. In both he wears jersey number 7.

Since making his debut against the Czech Republic in October 1996, Raúl's performances for Spain have very much mirrored the nation's fortunes.

Raúl was a key player in Real Madrid's last six big titles, three European Championships (1998, 2000 and 2002) and three National Championships (1999, 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, he has been under heavy criticism by the media and part of the supporters because of his poor performances in the last two years, in which Real Madrid struggled to win a title in Spain and in European Championships, with no success in either of them.

Raúl is a supremely intelligent striker who is able to link attack and midfield effectively. Although not as talented as other stars in his team, like Ronaldo or Zidane, he usually outperforms them by his strong character and redoubled efforts in the pitch, and by his unbreakable resolve to win every game.

For his country, Raúl scored 41 goals in 83 international matches (as of May 2005). He played in the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup, and Euro 2004. He is also the leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League, with 49 goals in 95 matches (as of May 2005). Raúl is also currently 11th highest goalscorer in the history of Spain's top flight, with 175 goals in 382 games. All of these goals were for Real Madrid, making Raúl the club's third highest goalscorer of all time. This will surely improve as Raúl is still playing for the club.

Raúl possesses one of the distinctive celebrations in the modern game, with each goal acclaimed by a kiss of his wedding ring, an acknowledgement to his wife Mamen Sanz. They have two sons.

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