José Santamaría, legend of Real Madrid and Uruguayan football, died
The former defender, who gained 4 European Cups with Merengue and performed in World Cups with Uruguay and Spain, was 96 years previous.
The former participant of real Madrid and Montevideo National and nationwide coach of Spain In the 1982 World Cup, the Uruguayan José Emilio Santamaría, died this Wednesday on the age of 96. He additionally coached RCD Espanyol in Barcelona for seven seasons.
Real Madrid, which reported the demise in a press release“deeply regrets” the demise of Santamaría, whom he describes as “one of the greatest legends” of the membership and world soccer.
“José Emilio Santamaría arrived at Real Madrid in 1957 from the National Football Club (Uruguay), and He defended our club’s shirt for nine seasons, until 1966“, says the observe, which provides that “he won with Real Madrid 4 European Cups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 6 Leagues and 1 Spanish Cup, in 337 games“.
He was half of “that legendary team that won the first European Cups in history consecutively, and that began the universal legend of Real Madrid“, at all times in keeping with the assertion.
The 337 presences of the previous defender sustained him for almost 6 decades as the Uruguayan footballer with the most matches for the White House, till surpassed in November 2025 by Federico Valverde.
For the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez“Santamaría will always be remembered as one of the great symbols“from the merengue membership.
“He was part of a team that will remain in the memory of all Real Madrid fans and all football fans in the world. Together with Di Stéfano, Puskas, Gento and Kopa, that team began to build the myth of Real Madrid. “Santamaría at all times represented the values of our membership in an exemplary method and till his final second, Real Madrid has been the nice ardour of his life,” according to Pérez.
With the National Football Club he won the Uruguayan Championship four timeswas international 25 times with Uruguay and 16 with Spain, played the World Cup in Switzerland in 1954 with the Uruguayan team, and the World Cup in Chile in 1962 with the Spanish team..
Official Statement: demise of José Emilio Santamaría.
— Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) April 15, 2026
“As a coach, Santamaría started his profession the yr after his retirement as a participant, within the Real Madrid youth academy. He coached the Spanish Olympic group on the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and on the Moscow Olympics in 1980. And in 1982, he was the Spanish coach on the World Cup in Spain.“, reports the white club.
“Since 1971, and for 7 seasons He coached RCD Espanyol in 252 video gameschanging into the coach with probably the most official matches within the membership’s historical past“says the observe.
