¡hasta luego capitán!
I simply cannot believe that Raúl is no longer a Madrid player; I never thought this day would come. For so many people, he was Real Madrid (or Raúl Madrid), epitomizing all the values of the club like no other. Real Madrid without Raúl is simply unimaginable.
Today, Raúl announced that he will be leaving Madrid after 16 years on the first team, 740 games, 323 goals (a Real Madrid record), six Ligas and three Champions Leagues. Like Guti, he did not say what his next stop will be, but all signs point to Schalke 04, where his good friend Christoph Metzelder is, and where he could face another friend, Ruud van Nistelrooy, in the first game of the Bundesliga season when Schalke 04 takes on Hamburg. England is also a possibility.
And like Guti yesterday, Raúl thanked the club, especially Jorge Valdano, who gave him his debut (did you know that Raúl’s oldest son is named after Valdano?) and said he will always be loyal to Real Madrid. He admitted that this day was a hard one for him [and for all of us!] As for Guti, Raúl said, “I grew up with Guti and he deserved his goodbye. I’ve shared a lot of things with him and I cried upon seeing him [say goodbye, I guess].” He stressed, “being a Real Madrid player is the best dream anyone can imagine.”
When asked which rival has marked his career, Raúl said [unamadridista favorite] Pep Guardiola, who “was already a coach on the field” and for whom “I have a lot of affection.” Of his teammates, [another unamadridista favorite] Redondo was the answer, “because we’ve shared a room and I almost slept more with him than my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife.”
Before the act/press conference, Raúl went to Valdebebas to say goodbye to his teammates and club employees, during which he cried a little. There was also time to say goodbye to the fans who had come to the Bernabéu later on.
And from this blog, thank you Raúl for everything you’ve given to us. I really don’t know what else to say. Maybe FP expressed it best during his speech, when he said, “[Raúl] knows that we’re not talking about a goodbye, but a see you later.” I know one day Raúl will return home.
Watch Raúl’s speech here, see what his (former) teammates had to say here, and watch the video Real Madrid prepared for him here.
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Gracias por todo, Raul!!!!!!!!!!
Well, after sobbing for half the day, I came to what I’d like to call a very sensible solution. This is not the day Raul leaves Madrid, this is the day I became a Schalke(?) fan. Real is Real and will always be my club, but what’s important is that he gets to play at full potential for at least another two years. Keeping him on the bench just for our sake would have been a very poor solution. So… ¡Viva la Bundesliga! Or Premier League! Or wherever he wants to go. A part of us will always go with him.
I’m not even much of a Madrid supporter, but I watched Raul’s farewell speech with him wiping the tears from his eyes, and watched his highlight reel spanning so many years from teenager till today, his majesty on the field and his classiness off it, and I wiped a tear or two away myself. I never thought Real Madrid would see this day, but everyone is treating it like a short teabreak for kaffee und kuchen in Germany (or perhaps teatime in England) — he will be back to you before many years are up. 🙂
What a class act. I’m glad y’all gave him the farewell he deserved. (I read on twitter about people taking the shirts off their backs to throw them down to Raul to sign, and I teared up a little at the mental image.)