Over the last 15 years world-class stars have come and gone at Real Madrid, but local hero Raul has outlasted them all.
And the 32-year-old striker wrote another piece of history on Saturday, becoming the all-time leading appearance holder with his 711th game in a Real shirt in their 4-2 win over Valladolid.
Before the game Raul was presented with a trophy for his landmark appearance and the forward scored twice to celebrate beating the appearance record of defender Manolo Sanchis, who amassed 710 games between 1983 and 2001.
“I am going to complete 15 years since I made my debut and back then it was difficult to imagine I would reach this number of games,” Raul said.
“I am really happy with how everything turned out and have the desire to carry on and continue helping my teammates and the club win important trophies,” he said.
“All my memories are special for the people that helped me, my family who have always been at my side and the people that had faith in me,” Raul said.
Raul, who was originally on Atletico Madrid’s books, made his Real debut back in 1994 and has gone on to lift six league titles and three Champions League crowns — 1998, 2000, 2002.
In addition to team honors Raul has set goalscoring and appearance records in the domestic league, Europe and on the international stage.
Raul is Real’s all-time top La Liga scorer with 226 goals and the leading scorer in the Champions League since its inception in 1992.
For Spain, Raul holds the national record of 44 goals and is still technically available for selection although he has been overlooked since winning the last of his 102 caps back in September 2006.
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