The Sidelined Matador

Posted on February 3, 2010

The next time you watch Real Madrid play on GOL TV Canada, if you haven't picked up on this already, you may see Raúl come on to the pitch as a late game substitute if the capital club employs a full squad.

Raúl, seen here on his visit to Toronto, has accepted his position as a role player and senior servant at Real Madrid. (Paul Giamou)

The 32-year old captain has been sharing the armband with another player that has spent his entire professional career with Real Madrid, midfielder Guti.

The striker position is a young man's game and to his credit, the legendary and classy Raúl realizes this.

"I want to play more, but one has to have humility and know that one's team-mates are doing things very well," said Raúl.

Those teammates are namely summer blockbuster acquisitions in striker Karim Benzema and attacking players Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká.

In Ronaldo's absence, as the Portugese superstar served a suspension, Raúl was able to get 79 minutes at the Riazor over the weekend where he missed a couple of scoring chances to make his claim for a regular place. Nonetheless, Real Madrid won at Deportivo La Coruña's home grounds for the first time since the 1991-92 season.

The 30,000 in attendance witnessed an outrageous Guti backheel pass to Benzema for a strike that was the talk of the weekend in La Liga. Low profile but impactful summer signing Esteban Granero opened the scoring for Real but Riki pulled one back for the home side on an 87th minute penalty, before Benzema's late second goal sealed the three points for the visitors with a 3-1 win.

Raúl said he was happy to get some minutes at the Riazor and the senior servant seems content to continue playing his new substitute role for the sake of the club.

"One should not give this too much importance. I have a very good relationship with the club and I know my role and my function."

Raúl's legendary status is derived from the 228 league goals he has to his name since first receiving a Real Madrid senior squad shirt in the 1994-95 season. There have been six La Liga titles along the way as he linked up with the likes of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham at the Bernabéu. He was the first player to break the 50-goal mark in Champions League play and continues to be its all time leader with 66, some of these strikes proving invaluable on way to three European championships.

Real Madrid (and possibly Raúl) will be next in action on GOL TV Canada, Saturday February 6 at 4:00 p.m. against Espanyol.