Spain: Raul

They say the best gifts are the ones which keep on giving.

If that is the case, then Real Madrid have certainly enjoyed good mileage out of superstar striker Raul.

Now is the time for Spain to benefit.

Real were the grateful recipients when Jesus Gil, president at city rivals Atletico Madrid, decided to abandon his club’s youth system in the early part of the last decade to save money.

Little could Gil have known that one of those discarded youngsters, an electrician’s son from a working-class Madrid suburb, would go on to become one of the world’s premier goalscorers.

The irony of the move hardly needs pointing out.

In today’s inflated transfer market Raul, a victim of cost-cutting at Atletico, is valued upwards of €65million.

In fact, Raul’s latest contract, according to reports, has him worth almost treble that to Real Madrid.

The Merengues, not known for keeping a tight rein on their purse strings, paid Raul what they thought he was worth in 2000 when tying him to a five-year deal.

To ward off potential suitors, Real were also said to have upped Raul’s sell-on fee from a bargain €35million to a rather more hostile €174million.

And who is to say he would not be worth every penny?

Since making his first-team debut at 17, Real Madrid’s youngest-ever player, Raul has gone from strength to strength and at 24, he is already threatening to break every Real record in the book.

He has won three Primera Liga and two Champions League crowns and claimed a host of other accolades most recently finishing second in the voting for the European Player of the Year and third in the World Player of the Year awards.

His trophy cabinet is more likely to be a small warehouse, but still he wants more.

He said: ‘‘Everyone in this occupation wants to become better and have success. Unfortunately that is not so simple.

‘‘I began here at 17 and within six years I had won two Champions League titles. That is very important to me, but I cannot rest on success. I want to become better.

‘‘The day I stop enjoying it is the day I’ll retire from football. It is my profession, it is what I have known since I was a boy. Playing and winning matches has been the biggest part of my life.’’

It has not been all plain-sailing and record-breaking for Raul, though, and injury and loss of form have seen him struggle to make his mark on the international stage.

He failed to make the Spain squad for the 1996 European Championships and was barely into his stride at the World Cup two years later in France before Spain tumbled out. Javier Clemente’s team failed to negotiate a first-round group which included Paraguay, Nigeria and Bulgaria.

And at Euro 2000, Raul, who only scored one goal in the tournament, missed a crucial penalty in the quarter-final defeat by eventual winners France.

For a player of his recognised quality, Raul’s inconsistencies on the international stage remains a blot on his copybook.

He admitted recently: ‘‘Right now I am taking each game as it comes with Real Madrid. But I am hoping this World Cup will be different, and that I can go into it feeling fresh.

‘‘I have got stronger in the last few seasons and I feel better than ever.’’

Spain, one of eight seeds, have been given what looks to be a plumb draw for the 2002 tournament.

They have been matched against Slovenia, South Africa and face another clash with Paraguay, but Raul is playing down their chances of success.

He added: ‘‘I think that after what happened in France we are not favourites and that France and Argentina are the main candidates.

‘‘All of the other teams are very even and we have high hopes and want to win the trophy to make the country happy.

‘‘Our first objective is to get out of the group and if you want to get as far as possible you have to beat everyone.

‘‘The draw is good if we win and bad if we lose.’’

There remains every chance that Raul will eventually stamp his class on the greatest stage of all.

And perhaps, come the end of the World Cup in June, it might not just be a certain Madrid president who has been left green around the Gils by Raul.