Do you guys think Raúl should be recalled upthe natioal team? I think he shoud, he seems to be back on form now and hes scoring goals. I mean he was in the squad for years when he wasnt playing to his full potential, far fom it actually, but now he seems to have turned corner and is consistantly playing well for Real Mardid. I think the only reason he might not get called up is because of politics, which is wrong, a player should play for his country if hes curently playing better than other players of the same natonality in the same position.

He should've been called up last season. He was one of our best players without doubt, even though he was played out of position. He's doing even better now, so to leave him out is ludicrous. Aragones is a tit though, and it seems Raul's form is irrelevant - he won't be selected.

Raul won't be called while Aragones is in charge. He and Villar (the president of the federation) should get fired! Raul is pure class, he's not only skillfull but also clever as hell.

Yeah, he really is a clever player.

Did you see that bit of skill he did in the last game? Kippered the defender.

Not as good as Robinho's though. Oh man, i couldn't stop laughing when the defender fell out of the screen - Hilarious!

Evra's bit of skill the other day was just as amazing though.

Does anyone know exactly why Aragones hates him (and vice versa)?

Well there are several theories. Aragones has coached Atletico de Madrid, a team who has hated Real Madrid historeically. And as you might know, Raul began his career in Atletico de Madrid until he was 10 or 11.

Besides, Aragones was "brave" enough to not call Raúl after 10 years attending to every single game. He was critized for that, so it'd be hard for him to call Raul back because then Aragones would be more critized if he doesn't call him the next time.

The last theory, the most stupid and improbable, is because Aragones is good friends with Zubizarreta, ex-keeper of Valencia and the player who has played more games with Spain (132 or so). Raúl is the 2nd with 102. Maybe Aragones doesn't want that record to be beaten...

But Aragones is a very stubborn man, he will not admit he's wrong and he'll always act on the contrary than what the media says.

Jesus Navas also deserves a call up.

Its like the Beckham thing, although McClaren eventually made the right decision and brought Beckham back, Aragones(AKA racist [beep!]) should pull his finger out his arse and do the same with Raúl

Isn't it possible that Raul did organise some of the senior players against Aragones in the last World Cup and that is why Aragones doesn't trust him anymore? He took Raul with the team to the WC despite the fact he was still recovering from injury and then when Raul wasn't happy with the fact he was warming the bench a lot of the time he turned against Aragones and tried to create problems for him, right? To me, the fact Aragones included the injured Raul in the squad shows that he didn't have a problem with him before. The problem was created in the summer of 2006.

Maybe it's just tabloid gossip, but since no-one seems to know for sure (Raul's post above is full of speculation) i thought it might be worth including in this thread.

No offense but your post has more speculation than mine. Raul NEVER would organise any player against anyone, so that theory is simply stupid. And Raul didn't warm the bench. He played a few minutes the first match, came out in the second one when we were losing 1-0 and he scored the 1-1 and played from the beginning against France in the second round.

Forgot to add - Raúl has played with the spanish national team after the world cup. His last match was in Northern Ireland when we were beaten 3-2. Raúl shot to sticks by the way.

No offence, but isn't it also stupid to believe the Atletico and Zubizareta stories, especially after Aragones included (and used) the injured Raul in the World Cup?

I was just trying to offer another perspective, as the ones you mentioned simply don't seem convincing at all.

He isnt as great as he was back in late 90s but he is pure class even though i think they should start him the next match wether they lose or win doesnt matter they are qualified so Raul should be given a chance.

Marios, Raul wasn't injured in the World Cup
He played the last 2 whole months in La Liga.

Raul even had trouble finding a place back in Real's squad. As you said, it was only in the last few weeks of the league that he started getting time on the pitch again. And i've googled this and found statements by Aragones backing Raul and saying he will be in the squad for the World Cup, even when the journalists (and the fans) had their doubts whether he should be included.

So i ask you again, do you SERIOUSLY think the Atletico and Zubizareta stories are the real reasons for the bad relationship between these 2 guys?

Are you blind or what? Seriously, I think it's pretty obvious I was kidding. I don't think that's a reason, but if you read my whole post above you'll see my main opinion.

And I know Aragonés better than you do, and he's not a man of word. He said he would leave the national team if he didn't achieve the semi finals in the world Cup. We were beaten in the 2nd round and he decided to go on.
And that thing about Raul having trouble finding a place back in the Real's team is something you totally made up. Furthermore, I remember that when just recovered of his injury, he played a game against Arsenal in the Champions League, and he shot to sticks. After that, he played almost all the matches (I even remember some goals he scored, against Deportivo in Riazor, against Egypt with Spain...).

I meant he had trouble finding a place in the Real squad BECAUSE he was recovering from injury. I didn't mean he had trouble because he wasn't good enough.

He only started in 20 games for Real in the 2005/06 season, as opposed to the 30+ he usually started in other seasons.

He returned to training after his operation in mid-February and then played against Arsenal in mid-March. And he was mostly a sub in the March games, if i remember correctly.

You said yourself he played the last 2 months in La Liga. I said a few weeks. 2 months is not that different than saying "a few weeks".

For the record, i don't consider Aragones a serious person and i do consider Raul a good player.

I think the reason he doesn't call him to the team might be more serious than you think because if it was a minor/stupid reason someone would have leaked it to the press. Maybe Raul himself. Like when Aragones scolded Raul for turning up to practice in a yellow shirt, a colour he considers to be unlucky. The press heard of that and made fun of Aragones for a couple of days after that.


PS: no need to get defensive. After all, if YOU read your first post again you'll see that you avoided to give me ONE GOOD reason why you think Aragones doesn't call Raul to the national side anymore. You could have just said "i don't know" or "no-one knows for sure", instead of re-hashing silly speculation.

But I do believe (like almost everybody in Spain), it's because of the reason I posted above:

"Besides, Aragones was "brave" enough to not call Raúl after 10 years attending to every single game. He was critized for that, so it'd be hard for him to call Raul back because then Aragones would be more critized if he doesn't call him the next time"

You know, after all the "effort" Aragones made for not calling Raúl, he wouldn't like to live the same situation in case he had to not call him again. - So, why don't leave things in the way they are? - that's what I think Aragones thinks.

And Raul just played 20 games that season because he was injured 3 months I remember he got injured in a match against Barcelona in the Bernabeu.

Yes, but that doesn't explain why he stopped calling him in the first place. It just re-inforces the idea that in reality no-one has a clue what might have happened.


Did i or did i not mention that myself? I even emphasized that when i said he "struggled to find a place in Real's squad" that i meant "because of his injury" not his lack of skill. Apparently, i'm not he only "blind" person here.

Anyway, let's drop this. It's clear we don't have all the facts.

To answer the original question, if it is indeed a matter of pride, i agree that Aragones is wrong not to call Raul. If it's more than that, then maybe he has his reasons and it's pointless to be arguing about it.

the only reason why Raul played for Spain is that he scored many goals.... so I understand he is not going anymore as we all know his performance has dropped in the last years.

That's not true. His performances have improved over the last few years. A few years ago h had problems with injuries and didn't play particularly well, but over the last year and a half he has improved a lot.

Yeah but his ability to score goals is not the same as 8 years ago. At this time no1 doubt that Fernando Torres, David Villa and even Bojan are better than Raul.

Are you having a laugh?

Bojan?!

Haha. After a handful of games?

And i still think Raul is better than Torres, and Fernando's performance against Newcastle didn't help his cause did it?

You can bet your ass that Raul would've taken at least one of those chances. I would put my money on him getting hat-trick with all the chances Torres had (including an open goal). That's the difference between the two. One can finish, the other can't.

Bojan will become a star very soon... and for Raul... he even can't dream of taking any of Torres' chances because he can't create them out of nothing as Fernando does
Nando is all pace and skill... Raul is all... well, Raul is Raul

Yeah, Raul is Raul - the greatest Spanish striker ever...

What a laughing stock.


Raul can create chances anyway. He has skill, and can pass the ball better than Torres. He may not have the pace any more, but at least he can finish. Besides, he doesn't need to create the chances with Robinho, Sneijder and Guti behind him.