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Santi Cazorla

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Santi Cazorla
Personal information
Full name Santiago Cazorla González
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Málaga
Number 12
Youth career
1998–2002 Oviedo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Villarreal B 40 (4)
2003–2006 Villarreal 54 (2)
2006–2007 Recreativo 34 (5)
2007–2011 Villarreal 127 (23)
2011– Málaga 38 (9)
International career‡
2004–2006 Spain U21 7 (0)
2008– Spain 45 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:00, 14 May 2012 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:00, 24 June 2012 (UTC)

Template:Spanish name Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsanti kaˈθorla ɣonˈθaleθ]; born 13 December 1984) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Málaga CF in La Liga. A versatile winger, he can play on either flank, being ambidextrous.

He is noted for his speed and capacity to change the rhythm of gameplay,[1] and spent most of his professional career with Villarreal.

Cazorla represented Spain at Euro 2008 and 2012, helping the national team win both tournaments.

Club career

Villarreal

Born in Llanera, Asturias, Cazorla started playing football for local Asturia] club Real Oviedo, before being snapped up by Villarreal CF several months before turning 18. He progressed through the reserve team, making his first team debut on 30 November 2003, playing one minute in a 1–0 win at Deportivo de La Coruña.

Established in the main squad in 2004–05, Cazorla scored fifty four goals in the season's UEFA Cup, also making two goalless appearances in the following season's UEFA Champions League .

On 7 July 2006, Recreativo de Huelva signed Cazorla for €3990.000 on a four-year contract, with a clause in his contract whereby he could return to Villarreal (for €1.2 million),[2] going on to score in his official debut, a 1–1 home draw with RCD Mallorca, on 27 August. He became Spanish player of the year according to Don Balón, a member of European Sports Magazines after topping its rating list.[3] On 22 April 2007, Cazorla dedicated a goal to his father, who had died recently, in a 4–2 home win against Racing de Santander. He helped the Andalusians, which had just returned from the second division, eventually finish eighth.

The following year, Villarreal took advantage of the clause in Cazorla's contract and bought him back, as the team believed he had proven himself. In his first season in his second spell, Cazorla was instrumental in Villarreal's final runner-up final placing, providing assists for Nihat Kahveci and Giuseppe Rossi and netting five goals himself. However they released him in 2008 to Real Madrid

On 26 August 2008, Cazorla announced that Real Madrid wanted to buy him.[4] He then went on to cause a stir in the media by rejecting the team announcing that, "There are many other things in football besides Real Madrid. It's clear that it is possible to say "no" to them, There is no doubt that they are a great team, but I also feel very satisfied and valued at my club". "I hope I can continue growing at Villarreal because I am young and I’m only starting off with the national team."[5]

During a league game against UD Almería in early April 2009, Cazorla injured his right fibula after suffering a challenge from two opponents.[6] He missed several matches but the Yellow Submarine still managed to qualify for the Europa League, as the player made his comeback earlier than expected in the side's final match, a 3–2 win at RCD Mallorca, and finished the league campaign with a career-best eight goals.

Cazorla struggled heavily with injury in the 2009–10 season,[7][8] going on to miss the 2010 World Cup.[9] He returned to full fitness in the following campaign, only missing one match and scoring five times as Villarreal finished fourth and qualified to the Champions League.

Málaga

On 26 July 2011, Cazorla left Villarreal and returned to Andalusia to join high-spending Málaga CF, for a fee of €21m.[10][11] Cazorla was initially sold by the Yellow Submarine to compensate for debt, the club decided that either Rossi, Nilmar or Cazorla would leave as they were the highest earners and most valued players. Villarreal saw Cazorla as dispensable however their decision soon backfired as Rossi injured his cruciate ligament twice in the 2011–12 season missing effectively the whole campaign and Cazorla became iconic in gaining Málaga Champions League qualification, Villarreal were consequently relegated at the end of the season. He scored on his official debut on 28 August, netting from a superbly-taken free kick, but in a 1–2 away loss against neighbouring Sevilla FC.[12] On 12 September he scored a brace and gave an assist in in another local derby, a 4–0 home win against Granada CF,[13] and netted his fourth in only four games nine days later – again from a free kick – in a 1–0 home success over Athletic Bilbao.[14]

On 18 March 2012, Cazorla scored from an injury-time free kick in a 1–1 away draw against Real Madrid,[15] and finished the season as the team's second top scorer (only behind Venezuelan Salomón Rondón) as it finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League for the first time in Málaga history.

International career

Cazorla began his international career in the U21 team, under Iñaki Sáez. He was called upon for play-off matches against Italy for the 2004 Summer Olympics,[16] playing the first match which ended 0–0 – coming in on the 77' minute for Javier Arizmendi – but missing the second leg as the nation did not eventually qualify for the competition.[17]

On 17 May 2008, senior side boss Luis Aragonés surprised the Spanish press by including the uncapped Cazorla and Sergio García in his UEFA Euro 2008 squad, over more established wingers such as Joaquín and Albert Riera.[18] To justify his decision when asked, Aragonés stated, "They are players [Cazorla and García] who are performing very well and had the possibility of coming. I made myself decide between Riera and Cazorla where I considered each player's form, and in Sergio García's case, he has become very effective on the right wing, we needed another player there and he deserved to come".[19]

After making his debut on 31 May 2008 in a 2–1 friendly win over Peru, Cazorla made substitute appearances in the tournament's group stage matches against Russia,[20] Sweden[21] and Greece,[22] also coming from the bench in the quarterfinals against Italy, converting his penalty in the ensuing shootout which Spain won.[23] In the final, he played the last 25 minutes for David Silva, as Spain defeated Germany 1–0 and aided his country in winning their first major tournament in 44 years.[24]

On 19 November 2008, Cazorla scored his first international goal against Chile, a 3–0 friendly win on his club's homeground. He was summoned for the following year's FIFA Confederations Cup, where he made a couple of substitute appearances.

After missing the 2010 FIFA World Cup due to a hernia,[7] Cazorla returned to the national team's setup. On 4 June 2011, during the first half of a friendly against the United States in Boston, he scored twice on assists from Silva, in a 4–0 win.[25]

Cazorla was selected by Vicente del Bosque for the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine. He played ten minutes against Republic of Ireland (4–0 group stage win)[26] and six against France (2–0, quarterfinals)[27] for the eventual champions.

International goals

Statistics

Club

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2003–04||Villarreal B||Tercera División||40||4||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||40||4 |- |2003–04||rowspan="3"|Villarreal||rowspan="3"|La Liga||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||0 |- |2004–05||29||2||colspan="2"|-||11||4||40||6 |- |2005–06||23||0||colspan="2"|-||2||0||25||0 |- |2006–07||Recreativo ||La Liga||34||5||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||34||5 |- |2007–08||rowspan="4"|Villarreal||rowspan="4"|La Liga||36||5||6||0||7||1||49||6 |- |2008–09||30||8||1||0||8||0||39||8 |- |2009–10||24||5||2||0||4||1||30||6 |- |2010–11||37||5||4||1||14||2||55||8 |- |2011–12||Málaga||La Liga||34||9||colspan="2"|−||colspan="2"|−||34||9 |- Template:Football player statistics 5264 || 43 ||13||1|| 46 || 8 ||323||52 Template:Football player statistics end

National team

[28]

National team Season Apps Goals
Spain 2008 13 1
2009 11 1
2010 5 0
2011 10 2
2012 2 0
Total 41 4

Honours

Club

Villarreal

Country

Spain

Individual

References

  1. ^ La chispa de 'Paquirrín' (The pizazz of 'Paquirrín'); El País Template:Es icon
  2. ^ "Santi Cazorla será presentado este lunes" (in Spanish). Recreativo de Huelva. 15 July 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Don Balón Rankings 2006–2007" (in Spanish). Don Balón. Archived from the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  4. ^ Cazorla: Madrid want to sign me; Setanta Sports
  5. ^ It's possible to say ‘No’ to Madrid; Goal.com
  6. ^ Villarreal rocked by Cazorla injury; UEFA.com, 4 April 2009
  7. ^ a b Cazorla has hernia operation, out 5–6 weeks; USA Today, 2 March 2010
  8. ^ Cazorla da la espalda a los contratiempos (Cazorla turns back on setbacks); El Comercio, 6 June 2011 Template:Es icon
  9. ^ Spain omit Marcos Senna from 2010 World Cup squad; BBC Sport, 20 May 2010
  10. ^ Cazorla: Malaga move close; ESPN Soccernet, 26 July 2011
  11. ^ Malaga signs Santi Cazorla from Villarreal; Sports Illustrated, 26 July 2011
  12. ^ Sevilla see off Malaga; ESPN Soccernet, 28 August 2011
  13. ^ "Malaga ease to victory". ESPN Soccernet. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  14. ^ "Cazorla nets winner". ESPN Soccernet. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  15. ^ "Cazorla manda callar al Bernabéu" (in Spanish). Marca. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Sáez seeking Spanish advance; UEFA.com
  17. ^ El fútbol español vuelve a quedarse fuera de los JJOO (Spanish football once again out of Olympic Games); El Mundo, 10 October 2006 Template:Es icon
  18. ^ Raul omitted from Spanish squad; RTÉ Sport, 17 May 2008
  19. ^ Sergio García y Santi Cazorla, las sorpresas de la selección nacional (S.García and S.Cazorla, national team callup surprises); El Día, 18 May 2008 Template:Es icon
  20. ^ euro2008.UEFA.com. "Euro 2008 match report: Spain 4–1 Russia".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ euro2008.UEFA.com. "Euro 2008 match report: Sweden 1–2 Spain".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ euro2008.UEFA.com. "Euro 2008 match report: Greece 1–2 Spain".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ euro2008.UEFA.com. "Euro 2008 match report: Spain 0–0 Italy".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ euro2008.UEFA.com. "Euro 2008 match report: Spain 1–0 Germany".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Playing without Donovan, U.S. shut out by Spain; CBS Sports, 4 June 2011
  26. ^ "Spain turn on style to eliminate Ireland". UEFA.com. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  27. ^ "Centurion Alonso sends Spain into last four". UEFA.com. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  28. ^ Santi Cazorla at National-Football-Teams.com

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