Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly doing justice to the number seven jersey at Real Madrid but his predecessor was one helluva player as well and he was given a fitting reception at the Bernabeu last night.
Raul and his current club Al Sadd of Qatar were invited to play in the annual Trofeo Bernabeu and fans came to the Bernabeu in their droves to pay tribute to a Real Madrid legend, who played one half for both sides in what turned out to be a facile 5-0 victory for the hosts.
Raul has made more appearances and scored more goals for Real Madrid than anyone and he showed that, at 36, he hasn’t forgotten where the goal is with a clinical strike to put Madrid into the lead before joining his current teammates for the second half (see match highlights below).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjKTrJkfqsA
On a night of touching and emotional gestures, Raul presented his number seven jersey to Cristiano Ronaldo at half-time having had the captain’s armband put on him by Iker Casillas prior to kick-off,
when he was given an amazing reception by the Bernabeu crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NqS46Tjy2-c
At the end of the game, Raul lapped up the acclaim of the home support and even entertained them with a brief matador routine, capping off what was an emotional night for one of the all-time greats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DobZRD3PaTY
Hat-tip: 101 Great Goals
