Full name Carlos Alonso Gonzalez Role Footballer Playing position Height 1.75 m Name Carlos Gonzalez | Name Carlos Gonzalez Position Forward Years Team | |
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Date of birth (1952-08-23) 23 August 1952 (age 63) Place of birth | ||
Carlos Alonso González (born 23 August 1952), known as Santillana, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.
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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.
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 the team was 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 played 56 times 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. 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 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 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 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.