Raúl
Bravo, born 14 April 1981 in Valencia, joined Real Madrid's youth system
at 16, but he was never more than a useful back-up for Roberto Carlos
at the Spanish giants.
International call-ups for others gave Bravo the chance for a La Liga
debut against Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabéu in October 2001. He won
his first full cap for Spain in August 2002 against Hungary.
In January 2003, Bravo left for an
unsuccessful six-month loan spell at Leeds United. He was signed in
the middle of the controversy over the sale of Jonathan Woodgate to Newcastle
with manager Terry Venables and chairman Peter Ridsdale falling out badly
over the matter.
Bravo pulled up few trees during his six appearances for Leeds, five
of which finished in defeat. He was summarily dropped by incoming manager
Peter Reid after appearing in Reid's first game, at Liverpool. The Spaniard
was ill equipped for a relegation fight and showed little appetite for
the challenge.
Upon returning to Real, Bravo became a regular for Spain and played every
minute of their unsuccessful Euro 2004 campaign.
He remained at Real until 2007, when he left for regular first-team football
at Olympiacos, the fee estimated at €2.3m. He struggled with injuries
during his time in Greece and spent a period on loan back in Spain with
Numancia in 2009.
Olympiacos released Bravo in May 2011 and three months later he signed
for Rayo Vallecano, just promoted to La Liga, before moving on to Beerschot
in Belgium for a year. He spent the 2013/14 season in Spain with Córdoba
before finishing his career in Greece with Veria and Aris Thessaloniki.
In May 2019, Bravo was arrested as part of a large-scale operation into
match-fixing and corruption in sport. He was charged with belonging to
a criminal organisation, involved in corruption and money laundering.
A year later, Bravo strenuously denied he was behind the attempted shooting
of former Olympiacos team-mate Darko Kovacevic.
Kovacevic, the ex-Serbia international, escaped with minor injuries after
being attacked by two men as he went to park his car. He was taken to
hospital after hurting himself while diving to the ground to avoid gunfire.
La Gazzatta dello Sport suggested there could be a connection
with the attempted murder of Kovacevic. Bravo, however, laughed off the
allegations in an interview with Radio Marca's A Diario.
