Raul Gonzalez Blanco: The prince of Madrid

The iconic no. 7 shirt of Raul

He joined Schalke. He’s a sort of player the fans love and Schalke fans adored him just like the Madridistas did. When Raúl left Schalke after two good seasons with the club, they decided to retire the #7, which Raúl wore, out of respect for him.

Approaching 35, Raúl decided to move out of Europe and joined Qatari side Al Sadd. He helped them win the league, scoring 9 goals in 22 appearances along the way.

He also captained Spain for four years and became Spain’s then top scorer with 44 goals and earned 102 caps. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t win any major competition with his country, but he always gave his best. He was an inspirational captain which Spain needed, but not the one they deserved! Later, he was removed from the Spain’s squad for Euro 2008 rather disrespectfully by Aragones. The (then) all time top scorer and captain definitely deserved better.

For all those young kids out there, aspiring to be a footballer, Raúl is a role model! He is one of those very few players who have never been sent off in their entire professional career. He has scored a total of 419 goals in his career. He also holds the record for most appearances and goals in the Champions League, 144 (joint with Giggs) and 71 respectively.

“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

“For me I would say my favourite players in Europe are Raúl and Figo.”

- Zinedine Zidane

“He is a winner. He is the inheritance of Real Madrid.”

- Fabio Capello

“I hope he doesn’t like travelling, Failing that we will stop him entering the country. Real buy these big players like Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo but I think the best player in the world is Raúl.”

- Sir Alex Ferguson

“We all know what Raúl represents, not only for his team, but also for football.”

- David Trézéguet

“I once said that Raúl is like a Ferrari and now I think he is like a McLaren, Fernando Alonso‘s car.”

- Fernando Hierro

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

- Thierry Henry

The Angel turns 36 today, wishing a very happy birthday to Raúl González Blanco!