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Raúl to Return to la Selección?!

February 18th, 2009 | By: Anthony | 8 Comments »

Spanish footballing legend and now Selección Sporting Director, Fernando Hierro wants Vicente del Bosque to give Raúl a tribute match. Apparently it would be in November when the RFEF (Real Federación Española de Fútbol) celebrates it’s centenary. The friendly match is rumoured to probably be against Argentina and Hierro wants Raúl to appear one last time for La Furia Roja. Part of the reason for this is because the match will be played in the Bernabeú and the Real fans as well as the Spanish fans will all be together as a collective to applaud for the man who’s a “legend” and see him in his last game for La Selección.

The Real Madrid Man just set a club goal scoring record this past weekend when he scored his 309th goal for Los Merengues passing Alfredo di Stefano’s previous record of 308 goals. He is also the UEFA Champions League all time highest scorer as well as one of La Liga’s best of all time.

That all said, whilst he has scored umpteen goals for Spain, he has never lead us anywhere and choked come big tournaments. Raúl has commented on this matter since by saying that he still has ambitions of playing for the national team but not in a one-off match, he wants to fight for his place and stay there.

Whether you’re a Madridista or not you cannot deny that Torres and David Villa are, at this point in their career, both better strikers than Raúl. His goal record may be impressive but his best days are far behind him and personally I never liked him because he never did anything for Spain on the international stage when it mattered most.

In the squad right now we have a winning combination of players and the chemistry is as perfect as it can be, we’re currently undefeated in 29 straight matches dating back all the way to 2006. If Raúl never did anything for Spain before what makes anyone think he deserves a second chance? He’s been doing extremely well at the domestic level for Real but does that justify anything considering he always has done? Not in my opinion, no.

Who could we possibly sacrifice in the squad to make place for this man…? Fernando Torres who is one of the best strikers in the world right now and also scores frequently? David Villa who won the golden boot at Euro 2008 and almost has one goal a game average for Spain? Güiza despite having a poor season with Fenerbahçe was La Liga’s Pichichi winner last season and still a top striker? New phenomenon Fernando Llorente who scored in his debut last week versus England?

NO, NO, NO and NO!!!

My opinion on the matter is clear – NO TO RAÚL! But really, it’s nothing against the guy, just pure logic, he doesn’t fit into the team.

When asked about this dilemma Del Bosque simply replied that “We have an upcoming qualifier against Turkey and for every match I pick the best squad available, this time will be no different.” “Raúl is a fantastic player but like I said, I pick the best players, if he is one then he will be picked but Llorente is the player we’ve been looking at and the type of player we need, one who is developing well and will be ready to play when called upon.”

I know Del Bosque has always had a soft spot for Raúl but I’m praying that he uses some common sense on the matter. I can only imagine what it would do to the confidence of our strikers now if he was called up. Villa and Torres are possibly the best international striking partnership and like the old saying goes – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

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Comments

By Denise | February 19th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

I completely agree. Villa is pretty much one of the greatest strikers out their right now, and is arguably the best and most complete, while Torres is also a great striker. Villa and Torres make probably the most lethal International combination right now, and both Guiza and Llorente are better than him. I also never really liked Raul. While his old records are pretty impressive, he’s just not that good anymore. Even in La Liga, the only reason one can say he’s doing well, is because he recently beat Alfredo Di Stefan’s record, and I’m not trying to take any credit away from him, but honestly, he isn’t even that good for Real Madrid anymore. He hangs out by the goal a lot, like a vulture, and he messes up simple chances constantly. Like you said, his best days are way behind him. La Furia Roja is perfectly fine the way it is. We won the Euro without him, and I honestly don’t think he deserves a spot. We have an extremely skilled and talented squad. Raul would be just a waste of space.

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By Anthony | February 19th, 2009 at 9:07 pm

Agreed Denise, and I constantly say the same thing. Raúl isn’t good enough to be on the national squad; he’s getting on in years, lacks the pace, and there’s no way hes good enough to dislodge the perfect combination of Torres and Villa. If anything I’d rather wait to see Mata come through the ranks and play a Villa type role, somewhat off the main striker whether it be Llorente or Torres. If it’s a tribute match to him in a friendly against Argentina, okay fine, but if it means he gets regular time in the squad I’m 110% against it. We have a solid squad, instead of looking to the past let’s look to the future and get young stars like Capel, Mata, Bojan and Navas involved somehow.

By chris | February 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am

im going to have to disagree!!!! how can you argue with his records, hierro said once raul is not a 10 at anything but he´s scores eight at everything, your seriously telling me that for an international comeption and your taking four strikers, obviously villa, torres you couldnt find space for him? on the bench, think of the experience he has. look at other players of the same question delpiero, giggs, beckham, all of them their respective managers have found the correct tactics to get the best out of them, giggs gone from winger to very good central midfield, del piero back to back top goal scorer awards. I agree they need to look to the future and spain have a ridiculous amount of talent there, but if a game hasnt been working for 80 mins with a strikers like villa or torres maybe the introduction of someone who knows how to exploit his strengths like raul over a mata or bojan is best. and as for the comment on he never did anything for the national team, this is the first time in the history of the country they´ve had a enough quality ruuning through the whole squad to have been contenders, dont forget this is a team sport, very few individuals have singlehandedly one international tournaments.

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By Denise | February 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm

@Anthony: I agree with you on that as well. As you’ve probably seen from some of my other posts, I’m a Valencia fan, and I’m all in favor of giving Mata a spot on the International team. I’d rather a young and talented player like Mata get a chance at the International team. He could definitely fit in there with Guiza and Llorente. There is lots of young talent out there for us still, like you mentioned Capel, Navas, Bojan, and much more. I personally think that Navas deserves a spot on the team, he works wonders on Sevilla. I’ve said it so many times, Raul is getting older, and his peak is over. I’m happy he beat Di Stefano’s record, and like I said, his records were impressive, but he just doesn’t measure up to the level of our current team.

@chris: I do understand what you are saying, and while Raul has lots of experience, I don’t really see it working for even Real Madrid. Like I said in my earlier post, the only reason he can be seen as doing well, is because he beat Di Stefano’s record. His peak is way over, and he’s just not that good anymore. I’m not trying to take credit away from what he’s done in the past, but right now, he’s not doing anything impressive, and in my opinion, he’s more of a hindrance to Real Madrid than anything. He doesn’t play like he used to anymore, and he honestly wouldn’t fit in with our current team. We have such talented players, and an already deep bench, so why try to change anything by adding a player who’s golden days are long gone?

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By Anthony | February 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 am

Chris, I value your opinion but at the same time thoroughly disagree. Why would you drop any of the players currently in the squad to bring in a player who’s career is probably near-over? That would ultimately halt the development of the squad and/or the player(s) you drop. For instance, you drop Cazorla (just an example) to bring Raúl in, what does that do to the players confidence? You want to talk about experience but most of our current squad have won a European Championship and are part of a record-breaking Spanish side, I think that’s some decent experience right there considering Raúl hasn’t accomplished either. If you’re saying bring him on in the 80th minute to get a run about, well to be quite honest I’d rather do that with whom I said, Mata, Capel, Bojan, Navas, Xisco, and all the other solid youth we have coming through the ranks. They will benefit more from these small things than an experienced-way past his prime-Raúl. To conclude, basically I don’t see how he fits in the squad anymore and like Denise said, I don’t question his accomplishments or records and I think he was an awesome player but his best days are long gone and for a squad that is looking to move forward, he isn’t the guy to help us move in that direction.

Denise, I thank you for your loyalty to the blog and hopefully my response to Chris kinda summed things up. I’ve seen you on the Valencia blog before as I also write for the Sevilla Offside. I really like Mata and that game in the Copa where we lost at the Mastalla he was an absolute beast and without him we would have walked out 2-1 winners. I want to see him sooner rather than later and hopefully we do, lots of potential there.

By Denise | February 22nd, 2009 at 8:48 pm

@Anthony: I definitely agree! Mata is a really great player, he is very talented and I’d love to see him break into the first team. I know you probably saw the Sevilla-Atletico game yesterday. What a game! It was very well fought, and I wanted Sevilla to win. I was really very happy for Navas, what a goal! He’s so talented, and like Mata, I’d love to see him make it to La seleccion, he’d be a great asset to the team, and I personally think he is better than Cazorla, not saying Cazorla is a bad player. I just feel bad for his whole homesick situation. If he gets over that, I’m sure he’d get on the International team. Also, I was happy Villa scored today, what a brilliant goal, as usual! Villa and Torres are so promising for Spain, so why change it? I’ll admit, Raul scored 2 nice goals yesterday in Real’s trouncing of Betis, but as you’ve said, he would be a hindrance to Spain. I have a lot of respect for him, and if he wants to play a farewell game, then no problem, but to stay on the team? He’d be a waste of space, a spot we could use for a younger player in his prime.

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By Anthony | February 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 pm

Basically agree with everything you said there. We have about 4-5 youngsters that are ready to break through to the first team and I think that’s what my next article will be about. Be sure to check it out, surely after reading what I’m about to write, anyone in their right mind will never want Raúl back in the squad.

By Denise | February 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 pm

I agree, so much young talent. I can’t wait to see your next article on La Furia Roja, I’ll be looking forward to it! You know, after the recent games with Spain (the Euro win, Spain’s win against England, Villa’s outstanding form, and the team’s excellent form in general) I’m feeling like 2010 can really be our year. I know the italians won’t agree, but they’re barley making it through WCQs and friendlies. I have to say, The only other friendly besides Spain vs. England that I thoroughly enjoyed was Brazil vs. Italy, was happy to see Italy get a taste of their own medicine. As one of my friends have said “the italians make the beautiful game look ugly”, and I agree with him 100%. Anyway, I’ll be looking forward to your next post!

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