Carlos Santana (footballer)

For other uses, see Carlos Santana (disambiguation).

Carlos Santana

Personal information
Full name	Carlos Santana Morales
Date of birth	(1953-06-12) 12 June 1953 (age 71)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1972–1984	Saprissa	419
International career
	Costa Rica
Managerial career
	CS Uruguay
1996–1997	Belén
1999	Saprissa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Santana and the second or maternal family name is Morales.

Carlos Santana Morales (born 12 June 1953) is considered one of the best Costa Rican football midfielders during the 1970s and 1980s.

Club career

He played his entire career for Deportivo Saprissa, and was the team's captain for several seasons. Santana was a very quick, and talented player, with awesome shooting and passing skills. He played in 419 league games for the club.[1]

Santana helped Saprissa win 7 national titles[2] during the 1970s and 1980s, and was part of the legendary Saprissa team that won 6 national championships in a row during the 1970s.

International career

He played with Costa Rica's national team as well, and was the captain of the team that beat then 1982 FIFA World Cup champions Italy in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.[3][4]

Managerial career

After his retirement, Santana briefly coached Saprissa, but was dismissed after 4 months in September 1999[5] and has worked with both Saprissa's minor league system, as well coaching several Costa Rican U-17 and U-20 national teams. He also managed second division Uruguay and Belén.[6]

Personal life

Santana's son Ariel is also a professional football player.[7]

References

1. Tras los pasos de Coronado Archived 2014-12-09 at the Wayback Machine - UNAFUT (in Spanish)
2. Víctor Cordero: 10 títulos Líder morado se acerca al multicampeón - Nación (in Spanish)
3. Carlos Santana – FIFA competition record (archived)
4. "Carlos Santana". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
5. La Junta Directiva del Deportivo Saprissa cesó esta tarde al técnico Carlos Santana - Nación (in Spanish)
6. La oportunidad de Santana - Nación (in Spanish)
7. Ariel Santana jugará con Puntarenas Archived 2014-12-03 at archive.today - La Nación (in Spanish)