Originally published Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 4:50 AM

Madrid's Raul marks 2011 for retirement

Real Madrid's all-time leading goal scorer, Raul Gonzalez, plans to play two more seasons for the Spanish club before retiring, although he may play on in the United States.

MADRID —

Real Madrid's all-time leading goal scorer, Raul Gonzalez, plans to play two more seasons for the Spanish club before retiring, although he may play on in the United States.

"It's a difficult situation because in reality you always want to go when you're at the top. But when you're playing well then you start asking yourself, 'Do I really want to go?'" the 31-year-old was quoted as saying in Wednesday's edition of sports daily Marca.

"In this moment, I've marked the date as 2011."

Raul only recently surpassed Alfredo di Stefano's Madrid scoring record with his 311th goal. He has scored 13 league goals this season and is also Spain's all-time leader with 44 goals.

Raul, who has only ever played for Madrid, goes into Wednesday's Champions League match against Liverpool looking to build on his record 66 goals in European competition - 64 of those in the Champions League.

"Six months before that date, in December or January, will be the moment to look at the actual reality and see if it benefits the club and me," Raul said.

He said he'd like to take a year off to travel but could also be tempted by the prospect of playing in Major League Soccer for a season, like former teammate David Beckham.

But whatever he does, he plans to return and work at Madrid at some level.

"I'm 90 percent sure my future will be tied to football and to Real Madrid," he said.

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