Like Thierry Henry at the time, Raul Gonzalez Blanco narrowly missed the Ballon d’Or. The emblematic Real Madrid striker from 1994 to 2010 finished second not far from Michael Owen in 2001. He achieved his only season with more than 30 goals in all competitions (32 goals in 2000-2001), offering La Liga to the Casa Blanca with Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Claude Makelele, Luis Figo and his great friend Fernando Morientes, before the arrival of Zinédine Zidane, David Beckham and Ronaldo for the Galactic era.
Raul dreamed of individual distinction “for several years” but does not “never really understood the levers to pull to be able to have it”as he tells it in the latest issue of So Foot dedicated to number 9. “To tell the truth, I don’t care much, I have no regrets. Football remains a team sport and I am especially happy to have won titles with the teams in which I played rather than individual trophies”says Raul, very happy to have been crowned Pichichi twice (top scorer in the Spanish championship in 1999 and 2001).
An Italian legend without a Ballon d’Or
With all the elegance that characterizes him, Raul regrets even more the absence in the list of achievements of Paolo Maldini, to whom he would have given the 2003 Ballon d’Or (won by Pavel Nedved): “It would have been a way of rewarding him for his entire fabulous career. And then, a defender, that would have had a certain charm… That he never won it, it’s still crazy, eh? Paolo shouldn’t worry about that. For me, as for many people, he will forever remain as one of the best players in the history of football.”thus asserts the Madrilenian to the attention of the Milanese.
An exemplary defender, Maldini has an unrivaled career path. He spent his entire career at AC Milan, from 1985 (!) to 2009, winning 7 Italian championship titles with the Rossoneri and 5 times the Champions League. In 2003, he finished behind Nedved when the Milanese won the C1 on penalties in front of the Bianconeri deprived of their Czech midfielder. Maldini played four World Cups (90, 94, 98 and 2002) but withdrew from the Nazionale before the 2006 coronation. Fabio Cannavaro then became the 3rd Ballon d’Or defender in history after Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer.
