Raúl

Who is Raúl?

Raúl González Blanco, commonly known as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays for the Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd as a striker. Raúl was born in the San Cristóbal de los Ángeles neighborhood of Madrid where he played for the local youth team before moving to the Atlético Madrid youth team. He later moved to Real Madrid's youth academy and played at its various levels. In 1994 he signed his first professional contract with the fourth division team Real Madrid C and then was swiftly promoted to the first division team.

Thanks to his goals and appearances, he is considered one of the most important players in the history of Real Madrid and European football. However, he is regarded to be the greatest ever Spanish player. Raúl spent 16 years of his career playing for Real Madrid and is the club's all-time top goalscorer with 323 goals, just ahead of Di Stéfano, who scored 307 goals. Raúl is also the most capped player in the history of the club with 741 appearances, just ahead of Sanchís. With The Whites, he won six La Liga titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, four Supercopa de España titles, one UEFA Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cup becoming the Champions League's all-time leading goalscorer and second most capped player. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the team and retained that position until his departure from the club in 2010.