Legends of Club Football: Raúl González

“I would like to tell the fans that in every run, every tackle, I’ve always given everything. I’ve always given 100% for this club. My heart will always be with Madrid. Real Madrid is my life and my home.” - Raúl González

Angels seldom fall on Earth. But when they do, they make a lasting impression, touching every heart to have known them. Madrid had it’s own angel.

He fell on the third planet on the 27th of June in 1977, and they chose to call him Raúl. Where did he fall? In San Cristóbal de los Ángeles. Aah, angels.

San Cristóbal de los Ángeles was the seat of deep-rooted passion for Atletico Madrid and Raúl, while growing up, was a staunch Atletico supporter. Yes, you read that correct. His neighbourhood team coach still remembers the legend as a small Spanish kid, who was never exceptional, but ‘just worked and worked and worked’. Raúl realised the dreams of his father when he entered Atletico’s youth set-up as a 13-year-old and after winning the national championship with them, his journey at Atletico would come to a premature end. With the club and its ankles deep in financial crisis and led by the volatile Jesus Gil, the youth set-up was disbanded and it did not require ‘the neighbours’ to think twice about grabbing Raúl as he came. His neighbourhood coach jokes, calling him a traitor for doing so, but no, no one can hate an Angel. It didn’t take Raúl long to settle into the whites of Madrid. With a goal to game ratio of around 2.25 with the Cadete team, Raúl endured an extremely swift promotion up the hierarchy and just 10 odd games after joining Madrid C, he’d been called upto the first team by Jorge Valdano. The Argentine still recalls the conversation he had with the 17-year-old before the match v Zaragoza, where he handed Raúl his debut.

“I went upto him and said, I’m thinking of playing you tomorrow, but I’m afraid you’re going to be a bit nervous. And he said to me, ‘Well, if you want to win, play me. If you don’t want to win, put someone else in the team’. He had such extraordinary self-belief. ” – Jorge Valdano

Just the next week, he scored his debut goal on his home debut in a tense Madrid derby, against the club he’d once pledged his allegiance to. Raúl later said he’s never celebrated any goal like he celebrated that one. The angel was starting to shine.Once Raúl had established himself in the team, the goals just kept flowing in. He scored 10 in his first season and doubled it next season, with 26. The season after, the Angel scored 21 in the league to bring back the La Liga title to the Bernabeu. When 1997 brought Morientes, Raúl had found one of his greatest friends and strike partners, even if Raúl tended to play a bit deeper.

1997-1998 also brought what Madridistas had only witnessed in black and white – European success. Long gone were the days when Alfredo di Stefano and his Real ruled the roost in Europe and if one person could be this generation’s di Stefano and inspire the Blancos to success, it should be the man with Blanco in his name. They had the chance to write history and that’s exactly what they did.

Two seasons later, Real were back in the final and against one of their fellow Spanish sides – Valencia. Going in with swagger and a distinct winning mentality, the side from Madrid emerged victorious again, with goals from their three best players on the night and over the season – Morientes, McManaman.. and Raúl. The next season, Raúl took home the Pichichi trophy, firing home 24 goals, a feat he reflected in 2000-01. Two Champions Leagues in three seasons and this crop of Real Madrid players were touted as one of the teams of the century, and Raúl, like di Stefano in his time, was icon of all that the grand old club ever stood for.But then, things would change. A new president in Perez meant a new era at the Santiago Bernabeu – the Galactico era. As Steve McManaman said, the arrival of a few big-money big-name players sort of unsettled a team which had seen a large amount of success in recent seasons. The dressing room felt a little more uncomfortable with the term Galactico thrown around, the players didn’t all feel equal and it was a case of “them and us”, namely the Galacticos and the pre-Galactico players. So among the craze for stars or more aptly, ‘brands’ from all over the world, where would Raúl be left?

“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” – Franz Beckenbauer

Answer: Right in the thick of it all. He was someone who opposed the very notion of Galactico but he was their leader. Real Madrid even with their plethora of talent, looked to Raúl to lead them. Even among the stars, it was the angel that stood for the roots of the club – their history, their philosophy and their way. He was born in Madrid, he was one of the family and he was the glue that kept the egos of the big-money stars down and together.

And once Fernando Hierro parted ways with the club, there was only one player that was ever going to inherit the armband. There was only one player who could take the responsibility of leading this mammoth of a club. In his truest sense, Raúl was always much more than that to Real. He was always a proxy president, a proxy director – someone who’s been the epicentre of all Real Madrid’s achievements while he was there.

In 2002, Raúl and the new Galactico team won the Champions League again, and even though the Spaniard netted the crucial opener vs Bayern, his performance in that match will always be overshadowed by Zinedine Zidane‘s sole moment of pure footballing masterclass.

“I think he is the greatest player to have ever played the game. He walks on the turf and astounds. It is utterly amazing.” – Luis Figo

The titles and personal plaudits kept rolling in for Raúl but in 2009 came the moment he and Madrid fans alike waited for, the day he broke Alfredo di Stefano’s 4 decade-long record of goals for the club, when he scored a magnificent volley against Sporting de Gijon.

However, all fairytales have to end and this one, sadly, does not differ. Raúl’s last touch of the ball in a Real shirt was his 323rd goal for the club – against Zaragoza, the club against which he’d made his debut. His love affair with Madrid had completed its journey and returned to its origin. A day, etched onto Madridistas’ memories like diamond on rock, was when the time had finally come for Raúl to say his goodbyes – temporary, of course – to the club he had loved for 15 years. To the people who had loved him for 15 years.

Raúl would join Schalke and within two seasons in Germany, achieve a legendary, cult-hero status with the people there; Schalke even did what Real did not, retiring the #7 shirt for a short period of time. I had earlier mentioned that it was impossible to hate an angel. But this one was a level higher, it was impossible not to love. Raúl now plays for Qatari outfit, Al Sadd and led them to the domestic title last season.

With la Seleccion, Raúl never achieved heights he deserved. For years before Euro 2008 and the talent boom, Raúl was the only man that defended the country’s pride and worked in times which seemed unfruitful. Even described as a ‘blood donor’ for working through blood, sweat and tears for the team’s sake, his missing out of Euro 2008 wrenches my heart into tight knots every single time. Every one who professes to be a Spain fan due to their recent successes has to look a bit further back and they will only see the endless hard work of one man. The Captain that Spain needed, but didn’t deserve.

“When he plays, in his mind there is only the goal; it’s the football essence. Every time he does something, you stand up over your seat” – Thierry Henry

Some years ago, the first time I met my Spanish friend, the die-hard Madridista Lorenzo Peral, he informed me that he was beyond a Madridista – he was a Raúlista. It isn’t very often you hear about people dedicating themselves to a player, I mean with all due respect, there aren’t any Messiacs or Ronaldatics. The way the Angel endeared himself to the Madrid faithful – so much so that the fact that he was an Atletico supporter initally went completely unnoticed – is beyond imagination. All Madridistas undoubtedly, are Raúlistas but Raúlistas? They exist all over the world of football. There is one attribute every single coach to have worked with the Angel gives to him – from his childhood mentor, Renato de la Coa to his Real mentor, Jorge Valdano and right til Manuel Pellegrini and Felix Magath. Raúl doesn’t have exceptional ability and neither does he have explosive pace or superhuman strength. For Raúl, it was all en su cabeza – in his head. For him to have made it to the very top and stayed there for so many years, it has but, taken copious amounts of hardwork and intelligence, not to mention self-belief and confidence. To ask, scratch that, MAKE a capacity Catalan crowd shut up like he did, it’s no human feat. He has symbolised everything di Stefano did, expressed everything he did in today’s time and yet, Raúl is entirely different to the Real Madrid Godfather. Raúl is a firm believer that everything you earn – including your name – must come from a basement of sweating out for the cause and be a fruit of hardwork, hardwork and hardwork, and this is why he had a major problem with the Galactico project. And for all he was, he was a cool, composed leader – never been red-carded in a 17-year long career.

But, Raúl will always be one of the greatest Real Madrid players. Cristianos may come and Ronaldos may go but there will only be one Raúl Gonzalez Blanco. There simply is no one in the current scene that can match the magnitude of labor he endured for the club. He may not be there now, but he knows and we knows that on his bare chest, there will be a crest emblazoned for eternity.

He’s a reference for every player to follow, an example.

He’s a gentleman of football, a winner.

He’s a fighter, he never, ever, gives up.

Angels seldom fall on Earth, but when they do, it’s hard to forget them. Raúl González Blanco is el Ángel de Madrid and he will never be forgotten.