April 24, 2010. La Romareda Stadium. Matchday 34. Zaragoza-Real Madrid. Minute 49.
Raúl Gonzalez, when he was preparing to leave the field due to an untimely injury, appears in Roberto Jimenez's area and scores yet another goal with Real Madrid. It was the last one. He never played again with the Madrid jersey.
Exactly ten years have passed since that scene. Raúl, in the same place where he debuted in 1994 under the guidance of Jorge Valdano, closed an almost unique story as he knew best: with a goal. He did it with a sprained right ankle after performing a mischievous action mixed with epicness.
It was one of those goals known as the "Gol del Cojo" (Goal of the Lame) that were already achieved by names like Isacio Calleja and Diego Godin in Atletico Madrid, Rivaldo in Barcelona, or Martin Palermo in Boca Juniors, who broke all records in 1999 after tearing his cruciate ligament in one knee while scoring against Colon.
Raul did not expect that ending. In fact, he wasn't even a starter that day. However, an injury to Rafael van der Vaart allowed him to step on the grass of La Romareda, where Edmilson fell on his ankle to accelerate his end at Real Madrid.
The white "7" stayed on the field just long enough to take advantage of an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo, his successor. It was still CR9, not CR7, there were undeniable leadership qualities in a man who embraced the Portuguese to celebrate his last act of service.
Then, Karim Benzema entered the field and everything ended. Raúl sat on the bench, took off his right boot, and checked the poor condition of his injured ankle. There were just four matchdays left to finish the season and he didn't have time to make a comeback. After that, he embarked on another adventure at Schalke 04, but that's another story with a separate successful chapter.
"Zaragoza? There I played my first and my last match. In the first one, I had many chances and didn't score any goals, and in my last match, injured in the ankle in a play before the substitution, I ran towards the goal, Cristiano passed me the ball, and I could score that last goal and it was in the same scenario. My first and last match with the Real Madrid shirt were in Zaragoza. I have a lot of affection for that city and its stadium," he said in 2019 to the official website of Real Madrid on the occasion of his 25th debut anniversary.
Those words show Raúl's respect for La Romareda. He started and finished a stage there. Afterwards, he had time to win more titles at Schalke 04, Al-Saad, and New York Cosmos.
He hung up his boots in 2015 to become a coach. Now, he fights on the bench of Real Madrid Castilla. That last match with the club of his loves in La Romareda is far gone. A decade: neither more nor less. Time flies, just like that moment when he forgot about an injury to score with the last ball he touched with the Real Madrid jersey. Raúl stopped time even to leave. EFE