Raul is a former Spanish professional football player who last played for the American Soccer League club New York Cosmos as a striker. Raul is regarded as one of the best Real Madrid and Spanish player of all time.
The 40 years old retired professional has played for clubs like Real Madrid, Schalke 04, Al Sadd, and New York Cosmos. He used to receive an annual salary of $9 million while his career at the American club.
Raul was born as Raul González Blanco on 27 June 1977. He was born and raised in the San Cristóbal de los Ángeles neighborhood of Madrid. His father Pedro Gonzalez, migrant farmworker was an Atletico Madrid supporter. His mother's name is Maria Luisa Blanco.
Talking about his nationality, he holds a Spanish citizenship. As a youth, he joined the youth academy of Atletico Madrid when he was at the age of 13.
Raul began his professional footballing career since 1994, joining the Real Madrid's C team and was swiftly promoted to the first team. He made his professional debut for the club on 29 October 1994, in a match against Real Zaragoza. He took over the captaincy of Real Madrid in 2003 after their former captain was transferred. He became the first player to score 50 Champions League goals and he too is the most capped player in the history of Real Madrid with 741 appearances.
He holds the honor of having never received a red card throughout his 17 years of professional career. Along with years of captaincy for both Real Madrid and Spain, he was known as "El Capitan". He is the fifth-highest goalscorer in the history of La Liga with 228 goals, behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. After his 15 years spell at the club he then switched to the Bundesliga side Schalke 04 with a total of 741 appearances and 234 goals for the club.
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He made his official move to the German club on 28 July 2010, signing to a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for the club in his debut on 1 August 2010, in a match against Bayern Munich.
He made his Bundesliga debut on 21 August 2010 in a match against Hamburger SV. He announced he would leave Schalke after his contract expired on 19 April 2012. His two successive seasons with the club ended up with a total of 66 appearances and 28 goals.
Raul further made his move to the Qatari side Al Sadd for the 2012–13 Qatar Stars League season on 12 May 2012. He made his competitive debut for the club on 5 August 2012, scoring a penalty.
He took the role of captain after their regular captain was substituted and was made the regular captain in 2013. He helped the club to win their first title in five years. His two successive seasons with the club ended up with a total of 39 appearances and 11 goals.
He further made his move to the American club New York Cosmos on 30 October 2014. His North American Soccer League debut came on 4 April 2015 against Lauderdale Strikers, partially owned by his former Real Madrid strike partner Ronaldo.
He helped the club to finish with the best regular season record, winning the North American Supporters' Trophy. After the end of the season, he announced his retirement on 16 October 2015.
Raul has represented his national side Spain in both junior and senior levels at several international tournaments along with three editions of World Cup. He went on for many years to score a national record 44 goals in 102 caps for Spain, a record which was equalized by David Villa.
He earned his first senior cap against the Czech Republic on 9 October 1996, in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification. He has won 102 caps for his national side scoring 44 goals.
The 40 years old veteran is a married man. Raul got married to his long-term loving girlfriend Mamen Sanz after 2 long years of their relationship. The couple tied their knots on July 1, 1999, in Spain among their friends and family. They first started dating each other in 1997.
The couple is really supportive of each other, they are mostly found together spending their vacations visiting several places. The couple together five children, four sons, and a daughter. His sons are Jorge, Hugo, twins Héctor and Mateo, and the name of his daughter is María.
Raul has spent 15 years of his professional career with one of the World's richest club Real Madrid and rest of his career with renowned clubs which has given him a massive amount of wealth. As of 2017, he has an estimated net worth of $52 million including all of his assets and properties.
He used to receive an annual salary of $10 million from New York Cosmos while his time at the club. Apart from his earnings from football, his another source of income is from his agreements with several endorsing brands. He earned around $15 million from salary and endorsements in 2004 just behind David Beckham, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Hidetoshi Nakata. He used to receive an annual salary of € 6,400,000 in 2008 and had £ 118,000 weekly wage from Real Madrid. Some of the brands Raul is linked with are Adidas, Pepsi, Boss, Beats and many more.
