Santi Denia
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Santiago Denia Sánchez | ||
| Date of birth | 9 March 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Albacete, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Spain U17 (coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Albacete | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Albacete | 98 | (2) |
| 1995–2004 | Atlético Madrid | 225 | (7) |
| 2005–2007 | Albacete | 38 | (1) |
| Total | 361 | (10) | |
| International career | |||
| 1991 | Spain U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 1992–1996 | Spain U21 | 27 | (0) |
| 1996 | Spain U23 | 3 | (1) |
| 1997–1998 | Spain | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Atlético Madrid (assistant) | ||
| 2009 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| 2010– | Spain U16 | ||
| 2011– | Spain U17 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Santiago Denia Sánchez (born 9 March 1974), commonly known as Santi, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, and a current coach.
He appeared in 297 La Liga games over the course of 11 seasons (two goals scored), with Albacete Balompié and Atlético Madrid. He won the 1996 league championship with the latter.
Club career
Born in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Santi began playing professionally with hometown's Albacete Balompié. He made his La Liga debuts at age 18, and automatically became an undisputed starter in a side that constantly managed to maintain their top flight status.
In the 1995 summer, Santi signed with Atlético Madrid, being crowned league and Copa del Rey champion in his first season, in a defensive line which also included club youth graduates Juan Manuel López and Roberto Solozábal. He appeared in 37 league matches during the campaign.[1]
Following Atlético's 2000 relegation (he collected a career-worst 17 yellow cards), Santi gradually lost his importance in the team's plans. In 2004–05, after the signing of Pablo Ibáñez – who also came from Albacete – he featured in no games at all during the first half of the season, and was subsequently allowed to leave on loan in January 2005 for his first club.[2] The move was made permanent in June and he retired after two more years, with Albacete now in the second division.[3]
Santi eventually returned to Atlético Madrid in early February 2009, as assistant to newly appointed Abel Resino[4] who had replaced Javier Aguirre. He was a caretaker manager for the game against RCD Mallorca on 24 October, before the appointment of Quique Sánchez Flores.[5]
International career
Santi was capped twice for Spain, his debut coming on 11 October 1997 in a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Faroe Islands (3–1 in Gijón, playing the entire match).[6] He still featured in a friendly win over Sweden in March 1998, but did not make the final cut for the final stages in France.
Previously, Santi appeared for the nation at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[7]
Honours
Club
- Atlético Madrid
International
- Spain U21
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Runner-up 1996[8]
References
- ^ Una pareja de centrales crecida (Growing stopper duo); El País, 30 November 2012 (in Spanish)
- ^ Atlético farewell to Santi; UEFA, 13 January 2005
- ^ Hasta siempre capitán (Farewell captain); La Verdad, 17 June 2007 (in Spanish)
- ^ Santi será el segundo de Abel y Peiró el preparador físico (Santi will be Abel's assistant and Peiró the physio) Archived 22 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Mundo Deportivo, 4 February 2009 (in Spanish)
- ^ El 'sueño' de Santi Denia (Santi Denia's 'dream'); El Mundo, 23 October 2009 (in Spanish)
- ^ Luis Enrique ¡aclamado! (Luis Enrique cheered!); Mundo Deportivo, 12 October 1997 (in Spanish)
- ^ Santi – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ Italia ya ganó un Europeo a España en el 1996 (Italy have already won European Championships against Spain in 1996) Archived 13 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine; Orgullo Bianconero, 18 June 2013 (in Spanish)
External links
- Santi at BDFutbol
- Santi manager profile at BDFutbol
- Santi at National-Football-Teams.com
- Spain stats at Eu-Football
 | ||
- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Albacete
- Spanish footballers
- Castilian-Manchegan footballers
- Association football defenders
- La Liga players
- Segunda División players
- Albacete Balompié players
- Atlético Madrid footballers
- Spain youth international footballers
- Spain under-21 international footballers
- Spain under-23 international footballers
- Spain international footballers
- Olympic footballers of Spain
- Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Spanish football managers
- La Liga managers
- Atlético Madrid managers