Raul Gonzalez: A peep into the shining career of veteran striker
The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 international and current Schalke striker Raul Gonzalez has been one of the most influential players of recent times. The player has always shown dedication and commitment whether he is playing for his country or the club. The striker has
never let down his fans and is still considered amongst the best players around.
Raul has always tried to keep himself away from any controversies and concentrates on his game. The striker is still the all time leading goal scorer for Madrid in the league and also has most number of appearances under his belt for the Whites. Despite
being 34, the Spaniard is still gunning to prolong his career and has spent as much time on the field as he possibly can.
Raul represented Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid during his youth days. He was 13 when he stepped into Atletico’s youth academy in 1990. There he worked upon his skills and gained interest from the rivals Real Madrid. Raul’s move to the fierce rivals is
indeed an interesting story. Then-Atletico Madrid president Jesus http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gil-c14870 decided to close down the club’s youth facilities as a cost saving measure, rendering Raul a free agent. Los Blancos duly snapped up the young prodigy. The veteran spent two years in Real’s
academy before entering the bigger stage. The player was unstoppable during his prime and became a cause of headache for most teams around.
The Spanish legend earned a well deserved debut in October 1994 against Real Zaragoza. He also became the youngest ever player to have represented Real’s senior side at the age of 17. The record, though, was later broken by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alberto-Rivera-c4343 during the same
season. It was a perfect start to his journey as he assisted in one of Real’s goals. Ironically, Raul scored his first goal for Real against his former club in just his second game for the seniors.
The player made 28 league appearances in his debut season, netting nine times in return. He also won his first major piece of silverware by landing La Liga at the conclusion of the 1994/1995 campaign. The player also received honours for being the breakthrough
player in La Liga during the same year.
With the passage of time, the striker kept getting better and better. It never took him long to cement his place in the starting XI. The following season, Raul made 40 appearances for the club, bagging 19 goals during the process. The journey went on and
on as Raul became a fear factor for a host of European outfits. He kept on putting in breathtaking performances and was a consistent goalscorer for his club.
Keeping tabs of his relentless form, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Raul-c30652 was presented with an opportunity to appear for the Spain national side in 1996. He took this opportunity with both hands and spent ten glorious years in the country’s shirt. The veteran couldn’t stand up to the
demands of the international football and was replaced with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707. Despite the competition, Raul managed to bag the most number of caps for Spain and was also the leading goalscorer for his country until March 2011. His
record was surpassed by the current http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 forward David Villa.
Raul bagged a record total of 228 league goals for his club from 550 La Liga appearances during his 16-year Madrid career. He won La Liga title six times while thrice he clinched the UEFA Champions League title with Madrid.
Keeping the tradition alive, he has managed to win silverware with Schalke so far that includes a DFB Pokal and a DFB Supercup.
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