Raúl Tamudo Montero (born 19 October 1977) is a Spanish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a striker. An icon at

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, he captained the club for almost a decade, playing nearly 400 official games, winning two

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

and being their all-time top goal scorer with 140 goals.El mito (The myth)
Hall of Fame Perico, 3 June 2009 (in Spanish) He amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

totals of 407 matches and 146 goals over 17 seasons, also representing in the competition

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

and

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

Club career

Espanyol

Born in

Santa Coloma de Gramenet Santa Coloma de Gramenet () informally simply known as Santa Coloma (in Spanish: Santa Coloma de Gramanet, historically also known as ''Gramenet de Besòs'') is a municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the L ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Tamudo was a product of

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

's youth ranks who bought him from local

UDA Gramenet Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet Milán is a Spanish football team based in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in ''Segona Catalana – Group 4'', holding home games at '' Muni ...

for six

footballs A football is a ball inflated with air that is used to play one of the various sports known as football. In these games, with some exceptions, goals or points are scored only when the ball enters one of two designated goal-scoring areas; football ...

, and he served two

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

six-month loans before finally settling in 1999–2000. From there on he became an undisputed starter for the team, never scoring in single digits during nine

seasons and helping the ''Pericos'' to two

trophies: in the 2000 final against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

, he netted by stealing the ball from

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Toni Jiménez Antonio "Toni" Jiménez Sistachs (; born 12 October 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently a goalkeeping coach. He appeared in 236 La Liga matches over nine seasons, seven of those spent wit ...

with his head; he also played a vital role in the 2006 edition, scoring in the second minute of the match and subsequently assisting Luis García on the second goal. Tamudo was close to signing with Rangers in 2000, only to see the move fail at the last minute due to a failed medical. Two days later, he scored once in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

match against

Grazer AK Grazer AK, founded 18 August 1902 as Grazer Athletiksport Klub (in Austria the abbreviation GAK is more common), is an Austrian sports club, from the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria (''Steiermark''). The football section used to be on ...

( 4–0 home win, 4–1 aggregate). On the last matchday of the 2006–07 campaign, Tamudo reached 112 goals scored in the first division, making him the top all-time scorer for Espanyol: his brace in the 2–2 away draw against city rivals

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

on 9 June 2007 took him past former ''Blanquiazul'' star Marañón's 1983 record of 111, and allowed

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

to clinch the league title. In that year's UEFA Cup, he contributed with two goals in seven games to the side's runner-up campaign which ended at the hands of fellow league side

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

and, merely four months after that match, he struck three minutes from time to give Espanyol a 3–2 win at the same rival. Some injury problems and loss of form limited Tamudo in the following two seasons, and he lost the starting job midway through 2008–09 to newly signed Uruguayan

Iván Alonso Iván Daniel Alonso Vallejo (born 10 April 1979) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a striker. Gifted with an excellent aerial ability, he was most noted for his Alavés stint, and spent the bulk of his professional career in Spai ...

; however, in the last matchday, he scored three past

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

in a 3–0 home success – which was good enough for leading the team in goals once again, at six – being replaced to a standing ovation. 2009–10 was nothing short of disastrous for Tamudo, in sporting terms: again, he struggled with some injuries, was ostracised by manager and former teammate

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...

, who also deprived him of his

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

armband during preseason, in favour of club youth graduate

Daniel Jarque Daniel Jarque González (1 January 1983 – 8 August 2009) was a Spanish professional footballer who played as a central defender and spent his entire career with Espanyol. He was named team captain one month before his death from a heart attac ...

, and confronted the board of directors over contractual issues; his status was further diminished in the January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, with the signing of another Argentine,

Dani Osvaldo Pablo Daniel "Dani" Osvaldo (; born 12 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born and raised in Argentina, Osvaldo represented the Italy national team internationally. Osvaldo began his career at Huracán ...

, and he eventually finished the campaign with only six league games and no goals.

Later years

In early August 2010, at nearly 33, Tamudo signed a one-year contract with

, who returned to the top division after a three-year absence. He scored three times in his first four official appearances, but the

Basques The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

only collected one point, losing against

(1–2, home) and

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...

(1–3).

(Raúl Tamudo) Espanyol v Rayo Vallecano - 8671767295 (cropped)

On 26 August 2011, Tamudo moved to

on a one-year deal, freshly promoted to the top level. He was a starter throughout most of his first season, notably scoring against his main club Espanyol but in a 5–1 away loss; on 13 May 2012, he was brought from the bench to net the game's only goal in the 90th minute at home against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

in the last matchday, with the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

outskirts team finally avoiding relegation at the expense of

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

. Tamudo moved abroad for the first time at the age of 34, joining

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

C.F. Pachuca Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was ...

on 14 June 2012. On 11 December, after failing to find the net, he was released, returning to his country and Rayo on the last day of the January

. Tamudo scored in only his second match in his second spell, not being able however to prevent a 3–1 loss at Barcelona on 17 March 2013. In the subsequent off-season, he signed for one year with second-level side

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

. At the start of the 2014–15 campaign, Tamudo netted four times in the first six league games, helping his team to the tenth place in the table. However, during training in October, he suffered an internal meniscus injury to his right knee, going on to be sidelined for several months and being deemed surplus to requirements when he returned to full fitness; Sabadell returned to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

, and he announced his retirement on 5 September 2015 at the age of 37. In December 2022, it was announced that Tamudo, along with other renowned retired footballers, would participate in the Kings League, a

seven-a-side football Seven-a-side football is one of the minifootball variations of football, which is played among seven players in each team. In the game consists of one goalkeeper and six outfield players. The pitch of seven-a-side football is bigger than the fiv ...

league organised by different internet personalities such as

Ibai Llanos Ibai Llanos Garatea (born 26 March 1995), better known mononymously as Ibai, is a Spanish internet celebrity, streamer, and esports caster. He was a content creator for G2 Esports from 2020 to 2021. He is co-owner of the esports team KOI, a ...

TheGrefg David Cánovas Martínez (born 24 April 1957), better known as TheGrefg or simply Grefg, is a Spanish YouTuber and Twitch streamer. With 17.7 million subscribers, it is one of the most-subscribed Spanish YouTube channels, while he also has the ...

, as well as former football players such as

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...

. In January 2023 he made his debut in Ibai Llanos' team Porcinos FC, being the star of the team together with the Mexican

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...

International career

A full international since 16 August 2000 (

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

-Spain, 4–1 loss), Tamudo returned to the lineup after a two-year absence to score a vital goal in a 3–1

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

away win against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

on 13 October 2007. Incidentally, Espanyol teammate

Albert Riera Albert Riera Ortega (born 15 April 1982) is a Spanish former footballer who played as left winger but also as a left-back, currently manager of Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana. He made a name for himself at Espanyol (with whom he won a Copa ...

also scored. He played a total of 13 games with the

Spanish National Football Team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football i ...

, in which he scored 5 goals. Previously, Tamudo was part of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

's silver medal-winning team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, netting in the semi-final match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tamudo goal.''

Honours

Espanyol *

: 1999–2000, 2005–06 *

runner-up: 2006–07 Spain U23 * Summer Olympic silver medal:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamudo, Raul 1977 births Living people People from Santa Coloma de Gramenet Sportspeople from the Province of Barcelona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Deportivo Alavés players UE Lleida players Real Sociedad footballers Rayo Vallecano players CE Sabadell FC footballers Liga MX players C.F. Pachuca players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spain international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Spain Catalonia international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico