Raúl

Raúl González Blanco (Spanish pronunciation: [raˈul ɣonˈθaleθ ˈβlaŋko]; born 27 June 1977), known mononymously as Raúl, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Raúl made over 1,000 appearances in his career and stands as the all-time Spanish top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League with 71 goals.

Raúl spent 16 years of his career playing for Real Madrid, becoming the holder for most appearances with the club (741). With Los Blancos, he won six La Liga titles, three Champions Leagues, four Supercopa de España titles, one UEFA Super Cup, and two Intercontinental Cups. In 2001, he was runner-up in the Ballon d'Or, and two years later became captain of Real Madrid. Raúl left the club in 2010 with 323 goals scored for them, signing for Bundesliga side Schalke 04. He won a DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup in Germany before moving to Qatari club Al Sadd and then American club New York Cosmos. For Spain, Raúl scored 44 goals in 102 appearances and is regarded as one of his nation's greatest ever players. He represented La Roja in three FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships, being named in the Euro Team of the Tournament for 2000. He became the captain of the national team in 2002 and retired from international football in 2006.

One of the most successful players in Champions League history, Raúl was named the UEFA Club Forward of the Year three years in a row (1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02) and was the top goalscorer in the competition in 1999–2000 and 2000–2001. He was named the top international goalscorer in the world by International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 1999. Further awards include two Pichichi trophies, five Don Balón Awards, and the Best Player award at the 1998 Intercontinental Cup. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players and was named in UEFA’s list of the 50 best European players of the 1954–2004 period. He was named in the European Team of the Year by European Sports Media in 1997, 1999, and 2000.