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Spanish national team forward Raul believes that the time he spent recovering from a knee injury will allow him to perform better and shine in the upcoming World Cup.
For the 28-year-old team captain, this will be his third World Cup (he represented Spain in 1998 in France and in 2002 in Japan and South Korea). Despite Raul Gonzalez being the all-time top scorer of the Spanish national football team, during the World Cup tournaments Raul did not show his characteristic form and remained in his own shadow.
"In previous tournaments, I always approached it with the attitude that there's no need to worry and I will show my best form during the most important matches," the Spaniard said on the official Real Madrid website. "This season, I spent three months on the sidelines due to injury, so I feel better prepared physically and psychologically for this World Cup."
The player suffered the injury in November in a match against Barcelona when he injured his knee ligament. He returned to the Real Madrid lineup in mid-February.
In 1998 in France, the Spanish national team was eliminated after the group stage. That time, Spain lost 2-3 to Nigeria in the first match, and then crushing defeats of 0-0 against Portugal and Bulgaria's 6-1 were not enough for the Spaniards to advance to the next stage. During those three matches, Raul scored once.
In 2002 in Japan and South Korea, the Spanish team had a better performance. By winning all group stage matches, in the Round of 16 after a dramatic penalty shootout, Spain eliminated Ireland from further competition. However, Spain's hopes of bringing home the gold ended there - in the quarterfinals, they lost to the tournament hosts South Koreans. The match caused a lot of controversy over the referees' decisions, but Spain was left out of further competition. During this tournament, Raul scored against opponents three times, but in the last match against South Korea, the player watched from the bench due to an injury.
