No Raul at Euro 2008

May 19, 2008

First he was. Then he wasn’t. Then fans wanted him to be, but he asked not to be. It’s been a crazy game trying to predict whether Raul would return to the Spanish squad for Euro 2008, but it appears to be over. Spain boss Luis Aragones today named his 23-man squad for the tournament, and Sr. Gonzalez was not on it, ending his streak of major tournaments dating back to France 98. The all-time leading scorer for Spain, he has 44 international goals, and seemed to be on form, with 18 goals in La Liga, behind only Luis Fabiano and Daniel Guiza, but it apparently wasn’t enough, as Aragonés went for youth over experience.

Here’s a little taste of what we’ll be missing, with some classic Raul goals.