Santillana (footballer)

Santillana
	Santillana in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alonso González
Date of birth	23 August 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth	Santillana del Mar, Spain
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Satélite
1966–1970	Barreda
Senior career*
Years	Team
1970–1971	Racing Santander
1971–1988	Real Madrid
Total
International career
1970	Spain U18
1971	Spain U23
1971–1976	Spain amateur
1981	Spain B
1975–1985	Spain
Medal record
Representing Spain
UEFA European Championship
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Carlos Alonso González (born 23 August 1952), known as Santillana, is a Spanish former 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,^[1] and scored ten goals in 34 games in his debut season as the team were crowned league champions.^[2]

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;^[3]^[4] the eighth-highest all-time scorer in the first division, with 186 goals in 461 appearances, he never won the Pichichi Trophy.^[5]

After just 12 league appearances in 1987–88, in which he scored four times, Santillana retired from football at almost 36, finding the net in a 2–1 home win against Real Valladolid. Madrid won three titles in a row in his final three seasons.^[6]

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.^[7]^[8]

On 21 December 1983, during a European Championship qualifying match against Malta that had to be won 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 Spain won 12–1 and qualified at the expense of the Netherlands.^[9]

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.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[13]^[14]
Club	Season	League			Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Racing Santander	1970–71	Segunda División	35	16	1	0	—		—		—		36	16
Real Madrid	1971–72	La Liga	34	10	6	3	—		4^[a]	2	—		44	15
	1972–73	La Liga	29	10	0	0	—		6^[b]	5	—		35	15
	1973–74	La Liga	18	3	6	7	—		0	0	—		24	9
	1974–75	La Liga	32	17	7	3	—		4^[c]	3	—		43	23
	1975–76	La Liga	30	12	2	1	—		7^[b]	5	—		39	18
	1976–77	La Liga	30	12	2	0	—		4^[b]	1	—		36	13
	1977–78	La Liga	34	24	6	4	—		—		—		40	28
	1978–79	La Liga	33	18	11	6	—		4^[b]	2	—		48	26
	1979–80	La Liga	33	23	6	3	—		8^[b]	3	—		47	29
	1980–81	La Liga	31	13	4	1	—		8^[b]	3	—		43	17
	1981–82	La Liga	20	9	3	0	—		5^[a]	2	—		28	11
	1982–83	La Liga	27	9	6	8	5	5^[d]	9^[c]	8	1^[e]	0	48	29
	1983–84	La Liga	31	13	8	3	0	0	2^[a]	1	—		41	17
	1984–85	La Liga	22	4	2	0	5	3	8^[a]	5	—		37	12
	1985–86	La Liga	27	4	6	5	2	0	9^[a]	5	—		44	14
	1986–87	La Liga	18	1	2	1	—		5^[b]	2	—		25	4
	1987–88	La Liga	12	4	7	4	—		4^[b]	0	—		23	8
	Total		461	186	84	49	12	8	87	47	1	0	645	290
Career total			496	202	85	49	12	8	87	47	1	0	681	306

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Appearances in UEFA Cup
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Appearances in European Cup
^ ^a ^b Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
^ 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]
^ 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
1	16 November 1975	23 August, Bucharest, Romania	Romania	2–0	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	2–0	2–1	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	2–0	3–1	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	1–2	Euro 1984 qualifying
9	21 December 1983	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	Malta	1–0	12–1	Euro 1984 qualifying
10				2–1
11				3–1
12				9–1
13	11 April 1984	Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain	Denmark	1–1	2–1	Friendly
14	26 May 1984	Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland	Switzerland	4–0	4–0	Friendly
15	17 June 1984	Vélodrome, Marseille, France	Portugal	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1984

Honours

Real Madrid^[6]^[10]

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: 1985
UEFA Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86

Spain

UEFA European Championship runner-up: 1984^[7]

Individual

Pichichi Trophy (Segunda División): 1970–71^[16]

References

^ "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.
^ 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.
^ "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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Pla Díaz, Emilio. "Carlos Alonso González, 'Santillana' – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b "A goalscorer with a potent leap". Real Madrid CF. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
^ Ruiz, Marco (20 May 2016). "Santillana, la mejor cabeza del mundo" [Santillana, best head the world]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
^ 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.
^ Santillana at BDFutbol
^ "Santillana » Club matches". Worldfootball. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
^ "Real Madrid 5 (5–3) 3 Real Zaragoza" (in French). Be Soccer. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
^ Cosín, Alberto (23 August 2018). "Carlos Santillana: Una cabeza de oro" [Carlos Santillana: A golden head] (in Spanish). La Galerna. Retrieved 7 December 2021.

External links

Santillana at BDFutbol
Biography at Real Madrid Fans (in Spanish)
Santillana at National-Football-Teams.com
Santillana – FIFA competition record (archived)

[UC-15] Appearances in UEFA Cup

[UCL-16] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Appearances in European Cup

[CWC-17] Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup

[19] 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]

[20] Appearance in Supercopa de España

[1] "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.

[2] 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.

[3] "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.

[4] 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.

[5] 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.

[MINUTOS-6] 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.

[EC-7] 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.

[RSSSF-8] Pla Díaz, Emilio. "Carlos Alonso González, 'Santillana' – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 January 2010.

[9] "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.

[RM-10] "A goalscorer with a potent leap". Real Madrid CF. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.

[11] Ruiz, Marco (20 May 2016). "Santillana, la mejor cabeza del mundo" [Santillana, best head the world]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 May 2016.

[12] 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.

[13] Santillana at BDFutbol

[14] "Santillana » Club matches". Worldfootball. Retrieved 27 December 2016.

[18] "Real Madrid 5 (5–3) 3 Real Zaragoza" (in French). Be Soccer. Retrieved 8 January 2023.

[21] Cosín, Alberto (23 August 2018). "Carlos Santillana: Una cabeza de oro" [Carlos Santillana: A golden head] (in Spanish). La Galerna. Retrieved 7 December 2021.

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