José Santamaría

José Santamaría

Santamaría in 1976
Personal information
Full name José Emilio Santamaría Iglesias
Date of birth (1929-07-31) 31 July 1929
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
Pocito
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1948–1957 Nacional
1957–1966 Real Madrid 227 (2)
National team
1952–1957 Uruguay 20 (0)
1958–1962 Spain 16 (0)
Teams managed
1968–1971 Spain (youth / Olympic)
1971–1977 Español
1978–1980 Spain U21
1980–1982 Spain
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

José Emilio Santamaría Iglesias (born 31 July 1929) is a retired football central defender and manager.

He spent his 18-year career with Nacional and Real Madrid, winning 17 major titles the two teams combined, including four European Cups with the latter.

Born in Uruguay, Santamaría represented both the Uruguay and Spain national teams.[1] He later embarked in a managerial career, which included a two-year spell with the second.

Club career

Born in Montevideo to Spanish parents, Santamaría played for local Club Nacional de Football in his country, winning five national championships during his spell. In 1957 the 28-year-old moved abroad, signing with Real Madrid where he remained until the end of his career.

In his first season with the Merengues, Santamaría contributed with 34 appearances the La Liga and European Cup tournaments combined, with both ending in conquest. He went on to add a further ten major trophies to his collection, being first-choice for the vast majority of his stint.

Having earned the nickname 'The Wall' for his consistent defensive displays, Santamaría retired at the end of the 1965–66 campaign at the age of nearly 39, featuring twice in that year's European Cup en route to another triumph (against Feyenoord and at Kilmarnock). He played 337 official games for Real Madrid.[2]

Santamaría was appointed at Barcelona's RCD Español in the 1971 summer, for his first club coaching experience. He led the Catalans to two top-four finishes during his six-year tenure, including a third-place in the 1972–73 season just three points behind champions Atlético Madrid,[3] being sacked on 21 December 1977 following a 0–4 away loss against Racing de Santander.[4]

International career

Santamaría was first called up to play for Uruguay for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, being selected to fill an inside forward slot in the squad but seeing the request denied by his club on the grounds that he was a defender. Four years later, however, he was an integral part of the national team setup at the World Cup in Switzerland, helping it to a final fourth position and gaining a total of 20 caps.[5]

Santamaría began representing Spain in 1958, his debut coming on 15 October against Northern Ireland (6–2 friendly win in Madrid). He appeared with his adopted nation at the 1962 World Cup, playing against Czechoslovakia (0–1 loss) and Mexico (1–0 triumph) in an eventual group stage exit.[5]

After working with the youth sides and spending two years with the under-21s, Santamaría was appointed manager of the full team for the 1982 World Cup, due to be played on home soil.[6] He was relieved of his duties at the end of the competition, as Spain was unable to progress from the second group phase, and quit football altogether to pursue other interests.[7]

Honours

Santamaría in 1962

Club

Nacional
Real Madrid

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Los 11 jugadores nacidos fuera de España con más partidos" [The 11 players born outside of Spain with the most matches] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Real Madrid biography (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ José Emilio Santamaría, entrenador del Espanyol de los "cinco delfines" (José Emilio Santamaría, manager of the Espanyol of the "five dolphins"); Vavel, 15 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ Santamaría, cesado en el Español (Santamaría, sacked in Español); El País, 21 December 1977 (in Spanish)
  5. 1 2 José Emilio Santamaría – International Appearances; at RSSSF
  6. ↑ Santamaría ya prepara sus planes de trabajo de cara al Mundial-82 (Santamaría readying workplan for World Cup-82); El País, 15 June 1980 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ Santamaría deja el fútbol para dedicarse a los negocios (Santamaría quits football to engage in business); El País, 9 November 1982 (in Spanish)
  8. ↑ Eric Batty’s World XI – The Sixties; Beyond the Last Man, 29 April 2013
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