Santillana (footballer)

Santillana

Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alonso González
Date of birth	23 August 1952
Place of birth	Santillana del Mar, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Satélite
1966–1970	Barreda
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1970–1971	Racing Santander	35	(16)
1971–1988	Real Madrid	461	(186)
Total		496	(202)
National team
1970	Spain U18	1	(0)
1971	Spain U23	1	(0)
1971–1976	Spain amateur	6	(3)
1981	Spain B	1	(1)
1975–1985	Spain	56	(15)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Carlos Alonso González (born 23 August 1952), known as Santillana, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.

Best known for his Real Madrid spell, which consisted of 17 La Liga seasons and 643 official games, he was known for his stellar heading ability despite not reaching 1.80m, and is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of Spanish football.^[1]

The recipient of more than 50 caps for Spain, he represented the nation in two World Cups and as many European Championships.

Club career

Born in Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, Santillana (nickname taken from birthplace) started playing professionally with local Racing de Santander, moving to Real Madrid and La Liga in 1971, aged just 19, and proceeding to score ten goals in 34 games in his debut season as Real were crowned league champions.

In total Santillana won nine league trophies, adding four Copa del Rey trophies and back-to-back UEFA Cups and scoring in both of the latter competition's finals. He played 778 first-team matches – a record which stood until Manuel Sanchís surpassed him during the 1997–98 campaign – in which he netted 352 goals; the eighth-highest top scorer of all-time in the Spanish first division, with 186 goals in 461 appearances, he never won the Pichichi Trophy, however.

After just 12 league appearances in 1987–88, in which he scored four times, Santillana retired from football aged almost 36, finding the net in a 2–1 home win against Real Valladolid. Madrid conquered three titles in a row in his final three seasons.

International career

Santillana earned 56 international caps and scored 15 goals for the Spanish national team, his debut being on 17 April 1975 in a 1–1 draw in Madrid against Romania for the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers.^[2]

He represented his country in the Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982 FIFA World Cups, and another three European Championships: 1976, reaching the quarterfinals, 1980, failing to advance to the second round, and 1984 in which Spain were losing finalists to hosts France, with the player coming close from scoring the opener on a header saved just off the line by Luis Fernández, of Spanish origin.

On 21 December 1983, during a European Championship qualifying match against Malta that Spain had to win by 11 goals in order to qualify, Santillana scored a hat-trick in the first half and added a fourth in the second period, as the national side qualified at the expense of the Netherlands – incidentally, his former understudy at Real Madrid, Hipólito Rincón (now at Real Betis), also netted four times in a 12–1 success.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 November 1975	23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	0–2	2–2	Euro 1976 qualifying
2.	24 April 1976	Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain	West Germany	1–0	1–1	Euro 1976 qualifying
3.	4 October 1978	Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia	0–2	1–2	Euro 1980 qualifying
4.	13 December 1978	El Helmántico, Salamanca, Spain	Cyprus	3–0	5–0	Euro 1980 qualifying
5.	13 December 1978	El Helmántico, Salamanca, Spain	Cyprus	5–0	5–0	Euro 1980 qualifying
6.	9 December 1979	Tsirion, Limassol, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–2	1–3	Euro 1980 qualifying
7.	27 April 1983	La Romareda, Zaragoza, Spain	Republic of Ireland	1–0	2–0	Euro 1984 qualifying
8.	16 November 1983	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–1	2–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
9.	21 December 1983	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Malta	1–0	12–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
10.	21 December 1983	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Malta	2–1	12–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
11.	21 December 1983	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Malta	3–1	12–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
12.	21 December 1983	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Malta	9–1	12–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
13.	11 April 1984	Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain	Denmark	1–1	2–1	Friendly
14.	26 May 1984	Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland	Switzerland	0–1	0–4	Friendly
15.	17 June 1984	Vélodrome, Marseille, France	Portugal	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1984

Honours

Club

• UEFA Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86
• La Liga: 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88
• Copa del Rey: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82
• Copa de la Liga: 1984–85

Country

• UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 1984

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy (Segunda División): 1970–71

References

1. Real Madrid biography
2. Carlos Alonso González, ‘Santillana’ – Goals in International Matches; at RSSSF

External links

• Santillana profile at BDFutbol
• National team data (Spanish)
• Santillana at National-Football-Teams.com
• Santillana – FIFA competition record
• Biography at Real Madrid Fans (Spanish)