Santillana (footballer)

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Santillana
Santillana in 2009
Personal information
Full name Carlos Alonso González[1]
Date of birth (1952-08-23) 23 August 1952[1]
Place of birth Santillana del Mar, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
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)
International career
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)
Medal record
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up1984 France
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

He was best known for his Real Madrid spell, which consisted of 17 La Liga seasons and 645 competitive matches. He signed with the club in 1971, from Racing de Santander.

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

Club career

Born in Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, Santillana (his nickname taken from his birthplace) started playing professionally with local Racing de Santander. He moved to Real Madrid and La Liga in 1971 alongside teammate Francisco Aguilar, aged just 19,[2] and scored ten goals in 34 games in his debut season as the team were crowned league champions.[3]

Santillana went on to win nine league titles, four Copa del Reys and two consecutive UEFA Cups, scoring in both finals. He played 645 first-team matches – a record which stood until Manolo Sanchís surpassed him during the 1997–98 campaign – and scored 290 goals;[4][5] the eighth-highest all-time scorer in the first division, with 186 goals in 461 appearances, he never won the Pichichi Trophy.[6]

After just 12 league appearances in 1987–88, in which he scored four times, Santillana retired from football at the age of 35, finding the net in a 2–1 home win against Real Valladolid. Madrid won three titles in a row in his final three seasons.[7]

International career

Santillana played 56 times and scored 15 goals for the Spain national team, his debut being on 17 April 1975 in a 1–1 draw with Romania for the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers held in Madrid. He represented his country in the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups, as well as three European Championships: 1976, reaching the quarter-finals, 1980, failing to advance to the second round, and 1984 which ended with a runner-up finish to hosts France, with the player coming close to scoring the opener on a header saved just off the line by Luis Fernández.[8][9]

On 21 December 1983, during a European Championship qualifying match against Malta that had to be won by 11 goals, Santillana scored a hat-trick in the first half and added a fourth in the second period, as Spain won 12–1 and qualified at the expense of the Netherlands.[10]

Style of play

Santillana possessed stellar heading skills despite not reaching 1.80 m, courtesy of his jumping ability, and was widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of Spanish football.[11][12][13]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[14][1]
Club Season League Copa del Rey Copa de la Liga Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Racing Santander 1970–71 Segunda División 351610———3616
Real Madrid 1971–72 La Liga 341063—4[a]2—4415
1972–73 La Liga 291000—6[b]5—3515
1973–74 La Liga 18367—00—249
1974–75 La Liga 321773—4[c]3—4323
1975–76 La Liga 301221—7[b]5—3918
1976–77 La Liga 301220—4[b]1—3613
1977–78 La Liga 342464———4028
1978–79 La Liga 3318116—4[b]2—4826
1979–80 La Liga 332363—8[b]3—4729
1980–81 La Liga 311341—8[b]3—4317
1981–82 La Liga 20930—5[a]2—2811
1982–83 La Liga 2796855[d]9[c]81[e]04829
1983–84 La Liga 311383002[a]1—4117
1984–85 La Liga 22420538[a]5—3712
1985–86 La Liga 27465209[a]5—4414
1986–87 La Liga 18121—5[b]2—254
1987–88 La Liga 12474—4[b]0—238
Total 4611868449128874710645290
Career total 4962028549128874710681306
  1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  2. Appearances in European Cup
  3. Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
  4. Includes the first goal in the semi-finals of the Copa de la Liga against Real Zaragoza on 22 June 1983; some sites such as Be Soccer attribute it to Santillana, while others such as BDFutbol attribute it as an own goal by Eugenio Vitaller.[15]
  5. Appearance in Supercopa de España

International

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santillana goal.
List of international goals scored by Santillana
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
116 November 197523 August, Bucharest, Romania Romania2–02–2Euro 1976 qualifying
224 April 1976Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain West Germany1–01–1Euro 1976 qualifying
34 October 1978Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia Yugoslavia2–02–1Euro 1980 qualifying
413 December 1978El Helmántico, Villares de la Reina, Spain Cyprus3–05–0Euro 1980 qualifying
55–0
69 December 1979Tsirion, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus2–03–1Euro 1980 qualifying
727 April 1983La Romareda, Zaragoza, Spain Republic of Ireland1–02–0Euro 1984 qualifying
816 November 1983De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands Netherlands1–11–2Euro 1984 qualifying
921 December 1983Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain Malta1–012–1Euro 1984 qualifying
102–1
113–1
129–1
1311 April 1984Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain Denmark1–12–1Friendly
1426 May 1984Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland  Switzerland4–04–0Friendly
1517 June 1984Vélodrome, Marseille, France Portugal1–11–1UEFA Euro 1984

Honours

Real Madrid[7][11]

Spain

Individual

See also

References

  1. Santillana at WorldFootball.net
  2. "Fallece Ico Aguilar, jugador cántabro del Real Madrid en la década de los setenta" [Death of Ico Aguilar, Cantabrian player of Real Madrid in the 70s]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. Carmona, Adrián (28 April 2012). "Santillana, el goleador que marcaba desde el cielo" [Santillana, the striker who scored from the sky] (in Spanish). Defensa Central. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  4. "Santillana: "El salto de Cristiano de parado es de un atleta prodigioso"" [Santillana: "Cristiano's cold jump is that of a prodigious athlete"]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. Siguero, Santiago (19 October 2021). "Benzema, a un gol del mito Santillana" [Benzema, trailing legendary Santillana by one goal]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  6. Ruiz, Marco (17 May 2007). "Raúl iguala a Santillana con 186 goles en Liga" [Raúl equals Santillana with 186 goals in League]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  7. Casado, Edu (18 February 2013). "Qué fue de… Carlos Alonso 'Santillana'" [What happened to… Carlos Alonso 'Santillana']. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. Mentruit, Imma (13 April 2016). "1984: Los 'bleus' se coronan tras el error de Arconada" [1984: 'Bleus' crowned after Arconada's mistake]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  9. Pla Díaz, Emilio. "Carlos Alonso González, 'Santillana' – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  10. "España, con 12 goles a Malta, alcanzó la fase final de la Eurocopa" [Spain, with 12 goals to Malta, reached European Championship finals.]. El País (in Spanish). 22 December 1983. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  11. "A goalscorer with a potent leap". Real Madrid CF. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  12. Ruiz, Marco (20 May 2016). "Santillana, la mejor cabeza del mundo" [Santillana, best head the world]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  13. Zara, Furio (15 May 2018). "Pavoletti e i grandi specialisti di testa dell'Italia e del mondo" [Pavoletti and the great heading specialists in Italy and the world] (in Italian). Calcio Mercato. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  14. Santillana at BDFutbol
  15. "Real Madrid 5 (5–3) 3 Real Zaragoza" (in French). Be Soccer. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  16. Cosín, Alberto (23 August 2018). "Carlos Santillana: Una cabeza de oro" [Carlos Santillana: A golden head] (in Spanish). La Galerna. Retrieved 7 December 2021.