12 February 2003 - Raúl Takes Two To Become Number One

On 12 February 2003, Raúl González scored two goals in a 3-1 win over Germany to become Spain's all-time top scorer.

Raúl, who played 16 seasons at Real Madrid before moving to Schalke in 2010, made his first full international appearance in 1996. He scored only five times in his first three years, but hit his stride in 1999 with ten goals--the most ever scored for Spain by one player in a single year. He never replicated that performance, but continued to be a reliable striker and took over as captain in 2002.

The friendly with Germany came in the midst of Spain's qualification campaign for Euro 2004. Played in Mallorca, Raúl scored the opening goal in the 30th minute. It was the 30th of his career, beating the former record of 29 held jointly with his Real Madrid teammate Fernando Hierro. Germany's Fredi Bobic equalized for the visitors eight minutes later, but Raúl restored the lead in with a 77th-minute penalty kick. Guti added a third for the hosts to end the day at 3-1.

Raúl scored a total of 44 goals for Spain before his retirement from international play in 2006. While still a record, it is shared with Barcelona forward David Villa who looks likely to surpass it this year.

14 September 2008 - But The 5,003rd Goal Gets The Win

On 14 September 2008, Real Madrid defeated Numancia 4-3 at the Bernabéu in the second week of the 2008-09 La Liga campaign. In doing so, Real became the first team to tally 5,000 goals in La Liga.

Numancia took an early lead with a 6th-minute header from midfielder Juan Carlos Moreno. Real equalized in the 18th minute with a long-distance shot from skipper Guti. The Spanish midfielder scored with a left-footed rocket that deflected off a Numancia player and past the keeper into the bottom right side of the net. That was Real's 5,000th league goal.

The match was far from over, as Numancia midfielder José Barkero returned the lead to his side in the 21st minute, only for Real winger Gonzalo Higuaín to equalize in the 25th minute. Real took its first lead of the match with a 33rd minute goal from midfielder Rafael Van der Vart and stretched its advantage thanks to a 39th-minute own goal from Barkero. Moreno added another goal in the 56th minute, but it was too little, as Real held on for the 4-3 win.