Raúl González – el eterno capitán – has played down rumors that he might return to his beloved Real Madrid and Santiago Bernabéu as a coach or candidate against Florentino Peréz for club presidency in the near future. Instead, he has taken up a new challenge: Country Manager for La Liga in the U.S., a promotion role offered to him by league president Javier Tebas.
Raúl has been charged with growing international revenues in the States, and let’s be honest, it’s hard to envision a better ambassador for the Spanish game. 741 games, 323 goals, six La Liga titles, three European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, one European Super Cup, four Supercopas de España… 16 years of pure, passionate, and unparalleled madridismo. We’ve been feeling some kinda way ever since he decided to hang up his cleats, so we even compiled a list of epic moments that illustrate his monumental career.
The madridista crack was recently quoted saying the he doesn’t see himself returning to Real Madrid as a coach or president right now. “In the future maybe, but right now I’m very involved with my family and in a professional level in this project. I wish all the best to Real Madrid, but now my head and my work is for all the teams from La Liga.”
“The easiest thing would have been to coach but this challenge is very important.” The fact that Raul thinks it would have been easier to coach Real Madrid than promote the league in the U.S. is insanely mind-boggling to me … We already have massive La Liga fans in the U.S., don’t we? (Yes, I recognize that there is plenty of room for growth, especially in relation to the Premier League’s recent spike in popularity.) Additionally, am I wrong in assuming that the director técnico role at the Bernabéu might be the most impossibly difficult jobs on the planet?
Regardless, Raúl is doing his thing, and we respect that. “I join one of the best brands in the world and I think I’m going to be enriched with the experience,” he said.