Santillana (footballer)

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Carlos Alonso González "Santillana" 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 August 23, 1952 in Santillana del Mar in Cantabria. He took his nickname from the name of his birthplace.

At the age of 17 he started playing for Racing Cantabria (then in the 3rd Division). 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.

In 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 all time topscorer of 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 Spain. He represented his country in the Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982 World Cups and the 1984 European Championships in which Spain were losing finalists to hosts France.