Injury puts Raul Gonzalez out of action for two months

A knee injury will prevent Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez, captain of Spain's national soccer team, from playing for at least six weeks in the Spanish league, the UEFA Champion's League and in the national team, Real Madrid doctor Juan Carlos Hernandez said on Monday.

Gonzalez damaged the cartilage in his knee in the Barcelona-Real Madrid game on Saturday, a much-anticipated Derby which Barcelona won 3-0. A magnetic resonance scan of his knee on Monday showed that he had also partially torn a ligament as well as rupturing a synovial capsule. His five goals this season make him one of the Spanish league's top 10 goal-scorers.

Real Madrid doctors will do further tests on Gonzalez's leg this week. In the worst case scenario he could be out of action for seven months, preventing him from playing in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

"If it is only the cartilage then the recovery time is a month and a half to two months, but if the ligament tear is more serious then the recovery time could be much longer," said Hernandez. He added that Gonzalez is in good shape and should recover quickly.

"He has played at the highest level of the game for years and has never hurt himself. This is an important point in his favor. In addition, we have seen that his other knee is very stable and supports movement."

The injury is bad news for Real Madrid, which already has three of its international players off the field due to injuries.

Ronaldo Nazario is suffering arthritis of his left ankle, Thomas Gravesen has an injured right knee and Jonathan Woodgate has torn the muscles of his right thigh.

Real Madrid will play Olympique de Lyon on Wednesday, in a battle for first place in the Champion's League's Group F.

Spain looks to the future after World Cup qualification

Spain coach Luis Aragones and his players greeted the team's eighth straight qualification for the World Cup finals with satisfaction - and a sense that the real work is about to begin.

Spain drew 1-1 with Slovakia in Bratislava on Wednesday to win 6-2 on aggregate and take its place with 31 other teams in Germany next year. "Spain has always qualified for the last 30 years, so there's not a lot to celebrate. But I'm content, we've done the job," Aragones said.

Although Spain only made it through the playoffs after finishing as runner-up to Serbia and Montenegro in qualifying Group 7, striker David Villa said the side should feel pleased to have achieved its aim.

"In the end we have qualified for the World Cup which is what we set out to do," said Villa, Spain's goal-scorer Wednesday.

Spain must now attempt to address its reputation as perennial underachievers. The team has only reached the last four once - back in 1950.

Aragones, who is unbeaten in 18 games since taking charge, said improvement should be the major aim.

"We want to get closer to the teams which win, to be with the strongest sides. If we keep our feet on the ground, we must believe we can manage that," Aragones said.

Captain Raul Gonzalez, the national team's all-time scorer with 42 goals in 92 matches, said Spain could "do something special" in the tournament.

"It will be very complicated but we have time to dream. We have to go there with humility, take things as they come, reach the last 16, and from then on it's a lottery," Raul was quoted as saying by news agency Efe.

Spain will be included with defending champion Brazil, host Germany, Argentina, England, France, Italy and Mexico as top seeds if FIFA maintains the criteria it has employed over the last two tournaments. The organizing committee meets Dec. 6, three days before the draw in Leipzig.

Garcia is Raul's successor

Thousands of spanish jokers’ hats worn by Spain supporters bobbed up and down as a Mexican wave swept around the Vicente Calderón Stadium on Saturday, a great night when World Cup qualification was all but secured with a 5-1victory over Slovakia in the first leg of their play-off. Yet these antics occurred long before victory was assured; in fact, the party was in full swing three hours before kick-off.

The whole event was a joy to behold yet there was a lack of tension in Madrid that seemed incongruous with a match in which the stakes were so high. The locals certainly celebrated heartily at the final whistle, but it was hard not to recall the regular observation that the national team is far from an obsession. There seemed a lack of intensity among the crowd that meant Spanish fingernails remained unbitten.

Concerned as he was with the fortunes of Luis Aragonés’s team, José, the Real Madrid-supporting taxi driver, was more occupied with how his team would fare against Barcelona in the Spanish league next Saturday. He is unlikely to be alone among his fellow Real fans, while many Barcelona followers are so detached from the national team that they would rather throw their weight behind a Catalan XI. Some Basques would favour a team of their own and such views prompted a banner at the Vicente Calderón that proclaimed in response “Una bandera, una nacion” — one flag, one nation.

Spain steer clear of Barcelona’s Nou Camp for this reason and they chose Atlético Madrid’s 55,000-seat arena in the belief that they could not fill the much larger Bernabéu across the city. The game was announced proudly as a sell-out although many empty seats were visible, perhaps because some people didn’t fancy a soaking in the largely uncovered stadium on a night when rain fell incessantly from early evening.

It was, though, a Catalan, Luis García, whose hat-trick set Spain on the road to Germany. The Liverpool midfield player even had a role in a fourth goal, worrying Roman Kratochvil into handling the ball in his own penalty area, after which Fernando Torres scored from the spot and Marian Had was sent off for protesting, for which he earned a second yellow card.

There was no animosity from the crowd towards García — even when his dreadful back-pass allowed Szilard Nemeth to pull Slovakia back to 2-1 shortly after half-time — but it was interesting that he received a quieter ovation when substituted than the one afforded his replacement, Fernando Morientes, a former Real player.

Morientes, a team-mate of García at Anfield, quickly cemented his hero status by heading the fifth goal as the clocked ticked towards midnight. As often happens in Spain, the match kicked off at 10pm; in a country with a culture of mañana, football seems keen to take the word literally.

Luis Aragonés, the Spain coach, has observed that “we’re not as physically strong as other sides”, but his men’s resolve was barely tested by a meek Slovak team. Raúl, another player with Madrid connections who was welcomed with particular affection, linked attacks skilfully on the slick surface, while Xavi, a rival in Real-Barcelona matches, showed glimpses of the form that tore apart Chelsea last season.

José Antonio Reyes, of Arsenal, had a decent game on the wing but he was outshone by Vicente, his replacement, who set up the final two goals. The result placed a triumphant spring in the step of Manolo, the roving drummer at Spain matches, who cheerfully stirred up the crowd while paying no attention to the action. There may be greater concentration on events on the pitch when Barcelona visit the Bernabéu next week.

Spanish reputation

Spain captain Raul believes his country's reputation as a footballing power will be at stake when they play Slovakia in the first leg of a World Cup playoff on Saturday.

"We didn't perform at the expected level in qualification, we were inconsistent and it is our own fault that we are in the playoffs," said the Real Madrid striker.

"But we can't afford to slip up again. Our prestige is on the line and it would be a major disappointment if we didn't make it to Germany."

Spain, who last missed out on the finals when they were staged in West Germany in 1974, were forced to take the playoff route to the World Cup after finishing two points behind Serbia & Montenegro in Group Seven despite remaining unbeaten in their 10 qualifying matches.

The team's main problem was their inability to convert their domination of possession into goals, a weakness that meant they ended up drawing five of their qualifiers.

But with striker Fernando Torres ending his goal drought when he found the net five times in the team's final two qualifiers against Belgium and San Marino, Spain are confident that they will be able to live up to expectations.

"With the forwards we have we are bound to score," said Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes. "Torres and Raul are both in form as are Fernando Morientes and David Villa if they play. I'm convinced we are going to score goals and win 3-0 or 4-0."

Increible

Spain forward Raúl González broke a league record for most appearances by a current Primera División player during Real Madrid CF's 1-0 win against Real Zaragoza on Sunday.