A Real Madrid titan and four-time European Cup champion who left an indelible mark on world football died at age 96.
The former player for Real Madrid and Nacional de Montevideo and national team coach for Spain in the 1982 World Cup, the Uruguayan Jose Emilio Santamaria, died Wednesday at age 96. He also coached RCD Espanyol de Barcelona for seven seasons.
Real Madrid, which reported the death in a statement, "deeply regrets" the passing of Santamaria, whom it calls "one of the greatest legends" of the club and of world football.
"Jose Emilio Santamaria arrived at Real Madrid in 1957 from Club Nacional de Football (Uruguay), and wore the shirt of our club for nine seasons, until 1966," the note states, adding that "he won with Real Madrid 4 European Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 Leagues and 1 Spanish Cup, in 337 matches."
He was part of "that legendary team that won the first European Cups in history consecutively, and that began the universal legend of Real Madrid," according to the statement.
The 337 appearances by the former defender held him as the Uruguayan footballer with the most games for the White Club for nearly six decades, until he was surpassed in November 2025 by Federico Valverde.
For Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, "Santamaria will always be remembered as one of the great symbols" of the Merengue club.
"He was part of a team that will remain in the memory of all Madridistas and all football fans in the world. Alongside Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento, and Kopa, that team began to build the myth of Real Madrid.
Santamaria always represented the values of our club in an exemplary way, and until his last moment, Real Madrid was the great passion of his life," Perez said.
With Club Nacional de Football, he won the Uruguayan Championship four times, was an international 25 times with Uruguay and 16 times with Spain, played in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland with the Uruguayan national team, and the 1962 World Cup in Chile with the Spanish national team.
"As a coach, Santamaria began his career the year after his retirement as a player, in Real Madrid's youth academy. He coached Spain's Olympic team at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico and at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. And in 1982, he was the Spanish national team coach at the World Cup in Spain," the white club reported.
"From 1971, and for seven seasons, he coached RCD Espanyol in 252 matches, becoming the coach with the most official matches in the history of the club," the note states.
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