The scene of the sinking ship and the captain standing patiently in the control room. On the Titanic, where Hercules has transformed over the years, Raúl Ruiz serves as the captain who continues to lead the crew. This year, with more emphasis if possible.

His right wing streak will increase in a season where he will be surrounded by new teammates, with the exception of César Moreno, Toscano and some young junior players. The bracelet’s owner, Raúl Ruiz, will celebrate his fourth consecutive season at Hércules with a fifth overall. While his 67 official appearances as Blue and White isn’t an overly high number, it makes him by far the most experienced player on the roster.

Next September will mark the 14th anniversary of Raúl Ruiz’s debut with the Hércules first team. He did so in a Cup match against Levante on September 3, 2008, in a draw that Alicante’s team won in overtime. He started and played 120 minutes of the match. He was one of the most important names with self-confidence and scoring chances. In this way, he fulfilled his dream of debuting with the first team after entering the Herculaneum youth academy at the age of ten.

Raúl Ruiz’s advancement at just 18 resulted in his debut in the League (Second Division) against Zaragoza a month later. He played 10 matches against Huesca in this class and scored one goal. He caught the attention of the Spanish team and Real Madrid, who caught him for Castilla.

By January 2020, with the advent of a global pandemic, Raúl Ruiz had a pilgrimage in the football world. His stage as Merengue lasted two years and then he went through Albacete, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Guijuelo and Cyprus AEK Larnaca. In the aforementioned January of 2020, he returned to don the blue and white jacket with the team in a dramatic situation and flirted with relegation to the Third Division. Destiny things was the reboot’s rival Levante subsidiary.

5 goals last season

Since then, Raúl Ruiz has had many bitter experiences in the Alicante locker room: the interruption and subsequent suspension of the season due to covid-19, the relegation to the Second RFEF in 2020/21 and the disappointment of not being promoted last year. Despite starting from defensive positions, the Herculaneum captain scored 5 goals in 31 games in the 2021/22 season, becoming the team’s third top scorer behind strikers Aketxe and Raúl González, who each scored 7 goals.

This summer, Raúl took the opportunity to pack his bags and look for another experience away from the club he grew up in. At the age of 32 he decided to wait and was eventually renewed with Hercules, not knowing very well what a project would bring to Paco Peña, who arrived in Alicante the summer a young Ruiz left for Valdebebas. and Ángel Rodriguez as leading ideologists. They will have to rely on the captain to manage a locker room that will completely change faces compared to last season. But the man with the bracelet on his left arm will remain the same. A captain who didn’t abandon ship at the worst time of living memory.