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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCopa del ReyCopa de la LigaContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRacing Santander1970–71Segunda División351610———3616Real Madrid1971–72La Liga341063—42—44151972–73La Liga291000—65—35151973–74La Liga18367—00—2491974–75La Liga321773—43—43231975–76La Liga301221—75—39181976–77La Liga301220—41—36131977–78La Liga342464———40281978–79La Liga3318116—42—48261979–80La Liga332363—83—47291980–81La Liga311341—83—43171981–82La Liga20930—52—28111982–83La Liga2796855981048291983–84La Liga3113830021—41171984–85La Liga224205385—37121985–86La Liga274652095—44141986–87La Liga18121—52—2541987–88La Liga12474—40—238Total4611868449128874710645290Career total4962028549128874710681306
International Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santillana goal. + List of international goals scored by SantillanaNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 16 November 1975 23 August, Bucharest, Romania 2–0 2–2 Euro 1976 qualifying2 24 April 1976 Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain 1–0 1–1 Euro 1976 qualifying3 4 October 1978 Maksimir, Zagreb, Yugoslavia 2–0 2–1 Euro 1980 qualifying4 13 December 1978 El Helmántico, Villares de la Reina, Spain 3–0 5–0 Euro 1980 qualifying5 5–0 6 9 December 1979 Tsirion, Limassol, Cyprus 2–0 3–1 Euro 1980 qualifying7 27 April 1983 La Romareda, Zaragoza, Spain 1–0 2–0 Euro 1984 qualifying8 16 November 1983 De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1–1 1–2 Euro 1984 qualifying9 21 December 1983 Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain 1–0 12–1Euro 1984 qualifying10 2–1 11 3–1 12 9–1 13 11 April 1984 Luis Casanova, Valencia, Spain 1–1 2–1 Friendly14 26 May 1984 Charmilles, Geneva, Switzerland 4–0 4–0 Friendly15 17 June 1984 Vélodrome, Marseille, France 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 1984
Honours 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
See also List of La Liga players (400+ appearances) List of Real Madrid CF records and statistics
References
External links
Biography at Real Madrid Fans