Santillana (footballer)

Santillana
Personal information
Full name Carlos Alonso González
Date of birth (1952-08-23) 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)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Alonso and the second or maternal family name is González.

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

Country

Individual

References

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Miguel Ángel
Real Madrid captain
1986–1988
Succeeded by
José Antonio Camacho
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 16, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.