Raul ready and waiting for Spanish Euro call
Updated: 2008-04-18 11:37
MADRID - Veteran Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez said Thursday he was waiting for a Euro 2008 call-up for Spain despite not featuring for his country for two years.
"I am up for it. I am ready for inclusion. The coach has not closed the door on me and I am working towards being in the squad," Raul said.
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"I think my form has been good this season and I want to be in the Euros as I think playing for Spain is a privilege and it would be great to be in the squad," added the three-time European Cup winner whose form in recent seasons has been patchy.
"The coach will decide and we all have to back the team and his decision. I still want to be in there though I know it's complicated," said Raul, whose 16 goals this season have made him Real's second highest goalscorer ever behind Carlos Santillana.
Despite 44 goals in the national shirt he last played for his country in September 2006 in a qualifying defeat by Northern Ireland in Belfast.
Coach Luis Aragones said last week: "I will select those who are on their best form".
He also recognised that Raul "has been one of the most important players in the squad (in the past) and very possibly will continue to be so".
But he added he had to decide how to go about injecting new blood into the squad ahead of the finals.
Raul's recent lean streak has coincided with the rise to prominence of the likes of Liverpool starlet Fernando Torres and Valencia's David Villa.
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