Pushed further and further away from goal and expected to play more like a midfielder than a striker, Raul has lost his sharpness, his vision and his spontaneity.

He did beat Alfredo di Stefano's European Cup scoring record by totting up his 51st goal at the start of this season, but that mark was soon erased by Ukraine goal machine Andriy Shevchenko.

Still there was always the outlet of the national team, although even that was threatened by a serious knee injury in November as he miscued a shot during Real's humiliating 3-0 defeat by arch-rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu.

Instead of taking the more usual course of action and having an operation with the consequent risk missing the World Cup, Raul decided to opt for more conservative treatment in the hope of a rapid recovery.

INJURY GAMBLE

The gamble paid off as he returned to action a little over three months later, though his form did not. Spending much of the late season on the sidelines at Real, his place in the Spain side even came under question and a subject of national debate.

Although he only turnw 29 later this month his critics believe his career is in terminal decline.

It is not a question of age they say, but rather like a car -- friend and club colleague Fernando Hierro once likened him to a Ferrari -- the number of km accumulated by the engine.

Raul has been playing at an elite level for 12 seasons and has a medal collection, which includes three European Cups, four league titles and two World Club Cups, that would be the envy of most players when they end their careers.

He has twice been top scorer in the European Cup and Primera Liga, he is Spain's all-time top scorer with 44 goals in 97 games and their equal highest marksman at World Cups with five.

But his admirers, and Spain coach Luis Aragones is among them, believe he still has plenty to offer, not just as a player but also because of his importance in captaining the squad.

He has yet to win anything on the international stage for Spain and his goal against Tunisia proved that he still has the ability to decide matches.

"I'm not in as bad a condition as some would like to believe," Raul turned and mumbled to one reporter before the Tunisia match. The whole of Spain hopes he is right.