Raul is considered one of the greatest players of his era, having played 17 years as a striker with Real Madrid, and making more appearances for them than anyone else. He helped them to win La Liga six times, the Champions League three times, as well as making over 100 appearances for Spain. Raúl was a quick, left-footed player, who was capable of scoring both in and outside the penalty area with his accurate and powerful shot, and had a penchant for scoring goals from chipped efforts. He possessed excellent ball control, vision and technical ability, and was effective in the air as well.
Although primarily renowned for prolific goal scoring, Raúl was also a highly creative and hardworking player, capable of playing off his teammates, creating chances and assisting goals and was occasionally deployed as an attacking midfielder later in his career.
The early days
Raul Gonzales Blanco was born in the San Cristóbal de los Ángeles area of Madrid in June 1977. He began his football career in the juniors at San Cristóbal but at the age of 12 joined Atletico Madrid. He helped them to win a national title at under 15 level, but in 1992 club president Jesus Gil closed the junior section as a cost cutting measure.
Raul thus moved on to Real Madrid and he helped their juniors win the Dallas Cup in America in both 1993 and 1994, the last time a Spanish club has won the cup. In 1994 he turned professional at the age of 17. He scored 16 goals in nine games for the youth team including five in one game in 1994/95 and was soon promoted to the first team.
Debut for Real Madrid
He made his debut in La Liga for Real Madrid in a 3-2 defeat at Real Zaragoza in October 1994, aged 17 years and 124 days, the youngest player ever to play for the first team, a record since beaten. A week later he scored with a powerful left footed shot and made two goals on his home debut in a 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid, his former club. He scored 9 goals that season as Real won La Liga, Raul’s first of many major honours.
Having played for Spain’s U18 side he made his debut for the U21s v Belgium in March 1995 and a month later represented Spain in the U20 World Cup, where they finished third with Raul scoring three goals in five games. In 1995/96 Real finished only 6th in La Liga but Raul continued his progression with 22 goals in all competitions, including 6 in 8 Champions League games as Real lost in the quarter -finals. He also represented Spain in the European U21 championships, scoring in the final against Italy that ended 1-1, but he missed a crucial penalty in the shoot out as Spain were beaten 4-3.
International honours
Real regained La Liga in 1996/97 and Raul made his full international debut for Spain in a goalless draw v Czech Republic in October 1996. He instantly became a regular and scored his first international goal in his third game, a 2-0 win over Yugoslavia. Also, that season Raul was voted as the best Spanish player of the year. In 1997/98 the season began well as Real Madrid defeated bitter rivals Barcelona to win the Spanish Super Cup and they also won the Champions League for the seventh time with Raul playing in every game of that run, ending with a 1-0 victory over Juventus.
At the end of that campaign, Raul’s thoughts turned to the 1998 World Cup in France, but Spain went out in the group stage. In 1998/99 Raul scored a career record 25 league goals, but Real only finished second in La Liga. They did win the Intercontinental Cup though, defeating Brazilian side Vasco da Gama 2-1 in Tokyo with Raul scoring the winner seven minutes from time. He scored 11 goals in 8 games during Spain’s Euro 2000 qualifying campaign, including seven in four days in March 1999, four in a 9-0 rout over Austria and three in a 6-0 win in San Marino. They were his only international hat tricks. In July 1999 Raul married Mamen Sanz, and they went on to have four sons and one daughter.
Champions League success
Real Madrid won the Champions League again in 1999/2000 and Raul starred for them, scoring ten goals in 15 ties in which he played every minute, including one in the final, a 3-0 victory over fellow Spaniards Valencia. In January 2000 Real also competed in the very first FIFA World Cup, finishing fourth. At the end of the season Raul played for Spain in Euro 2000 in Holland and Belgium. They reached the quarter finals, but lost 2-1 to France with Raul missing a last minute penalty that would have taken the game to extra time.
In 2000/01, Real Madrid won La Liga again and Raul scored a career best 32 goals in all competitions. That included seven in the Champions League, but they were beaten in the semi-finals by Bayern Munich. They won the Champions League again in 2001/02, defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park, and when Raul gave them a ninth minute lead, he became the first player to score in two Champions League finals since the competition was renamed. He also won the Spanish player of the year for the fourth season running, his five wins being more than anyone else, with only one other player winning it twice. That particular award was discontinued in 2010.
The 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea saw Raul score 3 goals in 3 group games for Spain but he went off injured in the last 16 victory over the Republic of Ireland and he missed the quarter final defeat to South Korea, also on penalties.
More trophies and captaincy
The trophies kept coming Raul’s way in the 2002/03 season, Real won la Liga, the Intercontinental Cup, and the UEFA Super cup, beating Feyenoord in Monaco. He missed five games through being hospitalised with appendicitis. He was made captain of the Spanish national team in 2002 and later that year took over as captain of Real Madrid, two huge honours. In February 2003 Raul became the first player to reach 30 goals for Spain.
The following season, 2003/04, Real lost their last five league games to finish fourth and were beaten in the final of the Copa Del Rey, the one major trophy to elude Raul. He captained Spain at Euro 2004 in Portugal, but they were eliminated at the group stage. The 2004/05 campaign saw Real Madrid fail to win a trophy for the first time in nine years. Raul missed 11 league games through injury in 2005/06, but in October 2005 became the first player to score 50 goals in the Champions League when he netted against Olympiakos. That same month he became the first player to make 90 appearances for Spain. He also became the first to make 100 appearances in the Champions League five months later when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal.
Farewell to international football
The 2006 World Cup saw Spain knocked out in the round of 16. He made his 100th appearances for his country v Iceland in August 2006, and a month later came his 102nd and last international, a 3-2 defeat to Northern Ireland in Belfast. He had scored a then record 44 goals for his country, a record only beaten since by David Silva.
Real Madrid won la Liga again in both 2006/07 and 2007/08 and in 2008 Raul was given a ‘contract for life’, which meant that his contract would automatically be renewed if he made 30 appearances in the previous season. In November 2008 Raul scored his 300th goal for Real Madrid, part of a hat trick in a 4-3 victory over Real Union in the Copa Del Rey, but they were eliminated on away goals.
Leaves Real Madrid
He equalled the Real Madrid appearance record in September 2009 v Villareal, beating it three days later v Tenerife. In April 2010 Raul was injured and about to be substituted in a game at Real Zaragoza, but as he hobbled around a ball from Cristiano Ronaldo fell at his feet and he poked it into the net before collapsing on the turf. That proved to be the last time he kicked a ball for Real, ironically on the ground where he made his debut. The injury kept him out for the rest of the season and in July 2010 it was announced that he had decided to leave the club. He had made 741 appearances for Real, still a club record, as well as scoring 323 goals, which is third on the club’s list.
Raul in his farewell game for Real Madrid
Move to Germany
Three days later he signed for Schalke 04 in the German Bundesliga. He scored his first goal for them v Borussia Monchengladbach and scored two hat tricks on the way to 19 for them that season. They won the German Cup, defeating Duisburg 5-0 in the final for his first domestic cup, and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. He became the highest scorer in European football competitions with 73, a record since beaten by four other players.
Raul left Schalke in July 2012 and signed for Al Sadd in Qatar and captained them to their first league title for five years in his first season. He announced his retirement from football in March 2014 but was tempted to play for New York Cosmos in the NASL in America and scored 9 goals in 32 games as they won the Soccer Bowl, scoring in the 3-2 final victory over Ottawa Fury.
Retirement and management
He really did retire in November 2015 after a glittering career of over 1000 games at the highest level, and was never sent off and rarely booked.
He was appointed as a coach of the U15s at Real Madrid in August 2018, moving up to the U18s in March 2019. Four months later he was appointed manager of RM Castilla, which is the reserve team of Real Madrid and they play in the Primera Federacion, the third tier of Spanish football, but they are not allowed to play at the level of the first team. They finished 2nd in 2020/21 and 3rd in 2022/23.
