Raul to leave Schalke at the end of the season
19.04.2012
A decision of significant importance not only for the Royal Blues but also for the Bundesliga as a whole has been taken. Raul, whose current deal expires at the end of the season, is leaving FC Schalke 04. The 34-year-old forward and three-time Champions League winner will explain his reasoning, his future plans and his hopes for the final three games of the season in due course.
Raul joined Schalke from Real Madrid in the summer of 2010. Last season he won a DFB Cup winners' medal with the Royal Blues after a 5-0 win over MSV Duisburg in the final. The foundations for that success were laid by a 1-0 victory at favourites Bayern Munich in the semi-final. The scorer of the winning goal? Raul. The Royal Blues also reached the semi-final of the Champions League, with Raul contributing five key goals along the way. His total haul of 71 goals makes him the most prolific striker of all time in European football's flagship competition. In the Bundesliga Raul has scored 27 goals in 63 appearances.
While at Real Madrid from 1992 to 2010 Raul won the Champions League three times (1998, 2000, 2002) and the Spanish league title six times (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008). He also picked up two Intercontinental Cup winners' medals (1998, 2002). Raul notched an incredible 323 goals in 741 competitive matches for Real and is thus the club's all-time leading goalscorer. He also played 102 times for Spain (44 goals) and took part in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006) and two European Championships (2000, 2004). Raul was voted Footballer of the Year in Spain on five occasions (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).
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