Santillana (footballer)

Football manager infobox
playername = Santillana


fullname = Carlos Alonso González
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1952|8|23|
cityofbirth = Santillana del Mar
countryofbirth = Spain
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|m = 1.75
weight = 71 kg
position = Forward
youthyears =
youthclubs = Satelite
years = 1970-1971
1971-1988
clubs = Racing Santander
Real Madrid
caps(goals) =
461 (186)
nationalyears =
nationalteam = Spain
nationalcaps(goals) = 56 (15)
manageryears =
managerclubs =

Carlos Alonso González "Santillana" (born August 23, 1952) is a former football player for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, who is regarded as one of the best strikers and headers in Spanish football. He was born in Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, taking his nickname from the name of his birthplace.

He started playing for Satelite. After a brief stay at Racing Santander he moved to Real Madrid in 1971 when he was just 19 years old. He remained at the club until his retirement in 1988.

At Madrid, he won 9 La Liga titles, 4 Copa del Rey and 2 UEFA Cups. He played 778 first team matches (a record until Manuel Sanchís surpassed him during the 1997-1998 season) in which he scored 352 goals. He is the 8th highest topscorer of all-time in the Spanish first division (187 goals in 461 matches played with Real), but never won the Pichichi award.

He won 56 international caps and scored 15 goals for the Spanish national team. He represented his country in the Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982 World Cups and the 1976 European Championships, reaching the quarterfinals; 1980 European Championships, failing to advance to the second round ; and 1984 European Championships in which Spain were losing finalists to hosts France with Santillana coming close from scoring the opener on a header saved just off the line by Frenchman Luis Fernández.

On December 21, 1983, during a European Championship qualifying match against Malta that Spain had to win by 11 goals in order to qualify, Santillana scored a hat trick in the first half and added a fourth in the now historic 12-1 win that saw the Spaniards through at the expense of the Netherlands.