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José Luis Santamaría Buitrago (born 14 January 1973) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Luis Santamaría Buitrago | ||
| Date of birth | 14 January 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Real Madrid | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1995 | Real Madrid B | 61 | (0) |
| 1995–2004 | Valladolid | 165 | (1) |
| Total | 226 | (1) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
After unsuccessfully rising through the ranks of Real Madrid, Madrid-born Santamaría joined Real Valladolid for the 1995–96 campaign,[1] appearing in 41 La Liga matches in his second season and subsequently becoming an essential defensive player. For three years, he often partnered another Real Madrid youth product in the back-four, José García Calvo.
From 2000 to 2004, however, a bad run with injuries and subsequent loss of form limited Santamaría to just 18 games (none in his last year), and he retired in June 2004 with 185 competitive appearances for the Castile and León club.[1] His only goal as a professional and in the top flight occurred on 1 March 1998, when he opened a 2–1 home win against CD Tenerife.[2]
Santamaría was nicknamed "Funny One" during his playing career, due to his love for books.[1]
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