MrFenix 
100 %
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აიი რაულის ინტერვიუც
I want to be champions sooner than later so I can celebrate with fans and teammates"
By Laura Navas / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
Raúl recognizes that Real Madrid have a good chance of winning their second league title in as many years, but the Madridista captain isn't quite ready to bet all his chips just yet.
The President came to Valdebebas this morning. Did he give the team a pep talk?
It was just a regular visit. He greeted the entire squad.
Luis Aragonés mentioned that he more or less has the squad for Euro 2008 drawn up and that you would have a hard time making it in. However, do you still hope to participate?
I'm still as eager as ever and nothing has changed in that respect. I respect the coach's decisions and I will stand by the side of the national team and its coach. I hope I can play in the European Championship, but it doesn't depend on me. The whole matter is pretty much a done deal. I even think it's become a little boring. There's nothing else to discuss. The coach will draw up his list and we'll all support the team. I do still hope to participate.
This has been your best year, and yet you aren't getting called up by the national team.
After my knee injury and two seasons which weren't so good for me or the team, I've started scoring and playing well again. I haven't been injured and I've been performing at a high level. I work hard and am very optimistic about many things. This is an important championship. The Euro is played every four years and I hope to be called up.
It's commendable how you remain so hopeful.
It's not commendable. I am a player who can get called up to the national team. The coach hasn't closed the door on me yet and I keep working hard. My performances have been good, normal, and acceptable. Wearing the Spain jersey is a beautiful thing and it fills with me pride.
I guess you are happy that Morientes won the Copa del Rey, but a bit disappointed that your friends at Getafe didn't.
I have friends on both sides when two Spanish teams play. I am very happy for Morientes. He was missing the Copa and he scored the winning goal. It was a great football party. It was decided quickly after Valencia scored twice in ten minutes. It's a shame that Getafe couldn't win, but football works in weird ways. Valencia proved they have more experience playing in finals.
The league hasn't been won yet, but it is very close.
The league is closer than ever, but we have to take one match at a time. The big lead we have now may not be so come Sunday. We hope we can at least maintain it after playing Santander. It's a complicated road match, as are the three remaining that we have. Racing, Osasuna, Zaragoza… They all have something at stake. We're up against a great team in Sunday, so all we can hope for is a victory.
Does it eat you up inside knowing that Barcelona might have to greet you as League champions at the Bernabéu?
All I want is to win. I don't care who greets us as champions. The sooner we win the better. We've had a similar lead before this season and it faded in just a couple of weeks. We will have to work hard. The possibility of Barcelona having to greet us doesn't make me happier or get me more excited. I want the fans to be happy and to share the title with my teammates if we win.
Would you greet Barcelona as champions if the situation was the wrong way round?
Of course I would.
Would a draw against Racing be a good score?
We’ve recovered our good level in the last few games. Anything that means taking points and not losing is good for us because it is important to keep our cushion. The other contenders have to win their games too, which is hard to do. We have to think about winning the game, not drawing, although a draw in the end may be good for us if that’s what eventually happens.
It is rumoured Granero and De la Red may return next season. Do you think they will have a spot on the team?
That’s not up to me. They are great football players that have been here before. De la red played in several League matches last year and Granero needed to play 30 or 40 games, which he’s done this year. The most important thing when you are young is to find a team in which you have continuity. They are doing a great job at Getafe and our coaching staff will have to decide if they want them back or not. If Granero continues being that humble he may thrill many of us.
Does the squad share the President’s wish for Barcelona to win the Champions League?
I don’t know what the rest think, but I want a Spanish team to win. The semifinals will be exciting and we would like to be part of them. If Barcelona don’t win I would like Liverpool to do so because they are doing a great job and their coach is Spanish too.
Would winning the League act as a smoke screen to cover the eliminations from the Champions League and the King’s Cup?
Winning a title like the League is always important, but we haven’t won it yet. As the great team we are, we set ourselves important goals for this season. It was a real shame for us to be eliminated from the Champions League. We all wanted to win it this year, but things sometimes don’t turn out well in the end. I think we should be happy if we win the League. Our new players are performing very well and our collective performance will improve next year.
Do you think this League is being underrated?
We’re not doing so because we know just how hard it is to win the title. We will be terribly excited if we win. It would also be the first League title for many of our players.
There hasn’t been continuity on the Real Madrid bench since Vicente del Bosque left. Would it be important for it to stay the same next season?
Continuity is a positive thing for all of us. For the Club, the players... We are sure it will stay this way.
Is winning the League just a satisfactory or an excellent result for you?
It would be excellent for me. The two most important titles at the start of the season are always the League and the Champions League. We have a new coach and several new players. We’ve done a good job up till now and I hope we manage to finish it off. We would be very happy if we do.
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