Santillana (footballer)

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.

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, and scored ten goals in 34 games in his debut season as the team were crowned league champions.

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; the eighth-highest all-time scorer in the first division, with 186 goals in 461 appearances, he never won the Pichichi Trophy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santillana goal.

Real Madrid

• 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

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy (Segunda División): 1970–71

• List of La Liga players (400+ appearances)

• List of Real Madrid CF records and statistics

• Santillana at BDFutbol

• Biography at Real Madrid Fans (in Spanish)

• Santillana at National-Football-Teams.com

• Santillana – FIFA competition record (archived)