AFP/New York
Spanish striker Raul, Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer, has signed for the New York Cosmos, the club announced yesterday.
Raul, 37, who remains the top Champions League scorer with 71, will join the Cosmos for next year’s North American Soccer League campaign, one level below Major League Soccer, and serve as technical advisor for the team’s youth academy.
Cosmos, whose former stars include Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in the club’s all-star heyday in the 1970s, had gone out of business but the club was revived in the hopes of a return to glory.
“Everyone throughout the soccer world knows the Cosmos name and the legacy of the players that played for this team previously,” Raul said.
“They helped establish soccer in America and I’m honored to follow in their footsteps. I believe in this club’s vision and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Signing Raul will help Cosmos compete with the MLS New York Red Bulls and FC New York City, a new MLS rival owned by English Premier League side Manchester City and baseball’s New York Yankees.
The new club will boast Spanish World Cup striker David Villa and former Chelsea star Frank Lampard when it debuts in March at iconic Yankee Stadium.
Raul joined Real Madrid in 1994 at the age of 17 and spent 16 seasons with Los Blancos, scoring 323 goals and collecting six La Liga titles, four Spanish Super Cups and three Champions League crowns.
He left Real in 2010 for Germany’s Schalke 04, where he netted 40 goals in 98 matches and spurred them on to the 2011 Champions League semi-finals before departing for Qatari side Al Sadd in 2012.
Raul, whose 71 Champions League goals came in 144 appearances, also scored 44 goals in 102 games over a decade with the Spanish national squad.
Milan wonder strike was a fluke, says Bonaventura
AC Milan midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura admitted his wonder-strike that earned a share of the points away to Cagliari was a fluke as the Serie A giants crawled up to third in Italy’s top flight.
Colombian Victor Ibarbo gave the Sardinians a 24th minute lead on Wednesday when he bravely headed a cross past onrushing goalkeeper Christian Abbiati on the edge of the Milan box.
The Rossoneri levelled barely 10 minutes later when Bonaventura’s looping drive from outside the area on the right flank beat Alessio Cragno in the hosts’ net.
It was to prove a bittersweet night for the former Atalanta player, who spent the night in hospital under observation after being kicked in the head later in the match.
But he admitted: “I tried to play a ball into the box for the forwards and it flew in.
“These kinds of things happen in games. The ‘keeper was off his line but I really crossed it in for the strikers.”
Celtic’s Tonev given 7-match ban for racist abuse
Celtic winger Aleksandar Tonev was hit with a seven-match suspension yesterda after the Scottish Football Association found him guilty of racial abuse.
Tonev, on loan from Aston Villa, had been charged by the SFA following an incident involving Aberdeen defender Shay Logan during a Scottish Premiership match last month.
The Bulgarian was ordered to appear before the SFA’s judicial panel, which ruled he had committed “excessive misconduct by the use of offensive, insulting and abusive language of a racist nature”.
However, Scottish champions Celtic insist they are backing their player’s claims of innocence and plan to appeal.
A club spokesperson said: “Racism has no place in football and as a club for all people, Celtic absolutely abhors racism of any kind. “We confirm that Aleksandar will be appealing this decision.”
Spanish striker Raul played for Qatari side Al Sadd for two years. (AFP)
