7 reasons why I love Real Madrid
When a child starts watching a sport, she/he begins to build a preference for a specific team. As time passes by, what once was a sport the child didn’t care much about becomes a key part of life.
There are a very few people in this world whose source of love for a sport is the sport in itself rather than a specific team. In my case, I started loving football because of the Spain national team and Real Madrid.
Now, the question beckons: how did I fall in love with these two teams? I will keep the Spain angle for another day and reveal the seven reasons that compel me to love Real Madrid…
#1 Raul
Raul Gonzalez Blanco. My source of love for Real Madrid and Spain and football in general. The most iconic Real Madrid player ever, taught me how to love something selflessly—such was his impact on me that I, 14 years later, still carry these principles in my life.
It was the World Cup of 2002. A familiar face was seen on TV as I remembered watching him play in a white costume a few months ago. That game was the Champions League final against Bayer Leverkusen and that face was Raul’s.
I was only 9, so didn’t remember much of the Champions League final, but I clearly remember him running riot with Fernando Morientes against the defense of other teams at the World Cup. And before I knew it, I was a fan – one who adored him, worshipped him as a football God.
In a game marred with controversies, Spain bowed out of the World Cup after a shoot-out defeat to South Korea. However, what was the end of Spain’s campaign became the beginning for me. That tournament made me love Raul, and that was the onset of my love for Real Madrid.