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 lea ...

who played as a striker. An icon at

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

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

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

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 as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

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

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

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 the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

in the competition.

Club career

Espanyol

Born in

Santa Coloma de Gramenet Santa Coloma de Gramenet (), informally simply known as Santa Coloma, and formerly as ''Gramenet de Besòs'' between 1936 and 1939, is a municipality in Barcelonès county, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the Catal ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Tamudo was a product of

's youth ranks who bought him from local

Gramenet Gramenet is a hamlet located in the municipality of Isona i Conca Dellà, in Province of Lleida province, Catalonia, Spain. As of 2020, it has a population of 1. Geography Gramenet is located 90km northeast of Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see be ...

for six footballs, and he served two

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

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, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, he netted by stealing the ball from

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

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 A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

match against

Grazer AK Grazer Athletiksport Klub (; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying s ...

( 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

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 (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

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 Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

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 professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the sporting director of Liga MX club Cruz Azul. Gifted with an excellent aerial ability, he was most noted for his ...

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

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

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), also known mononymously by his nickname Poch, is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the United States men's national team. Pochettin ...

, who also deprived him of his

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

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 In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, 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 striker. 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 ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

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 based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

(1–3). 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 Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

in the last matchday, with the

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

outskirts team finally avoiding relegation at the expense of

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

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

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

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

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city and municipality in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, where it is one of the two capitals, the other being Terrassa. It is located on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona, a ...

. 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 (English: 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 ...

, 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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, ...

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 commentator. He was a content creator for G2 Esports from 2020 to 2021. He is the co-founder of the esports or ...

TheGrefg David Cánovas Martínez (, born 24 April 1997), better known as TheGrefg or simply Grefg, is a Spanish YouTuber and Twitch streamer. With 18.2 million subscribers, he has one of the most-subscribed Spanish YouTube channels, and is among 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 to be one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a talented student athlete at Barcelona's La ...

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 miracu ...

. 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 Liga MX club Guadalajara. He is known for his c ...

International career

A full international since 16 August 2000 (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

-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 association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

qualifier away win against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 13 October 2007. Incidentally, Espanyol teammate

Albert Riera Albert Riera Ortega (born 15 April 1982) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former player who is the manager of Slovenian PrvaLiga club NK Celje, Celje. He played as a winger (association football), ...

also scored. He played a total of 13 games with the Spain national team, in which he scored 5 goals. Previously, Tamudo was part of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

's silver medal-winning team at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, netting in the semi-final match against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''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 The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

silver medal:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamudo, Raul 1977 births Living people Footballers from Santa Coloma de Gramenet Spanish men's footballers Men's 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 Kings League players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Spain Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico