Santi Denia

Santiago Denia Sánchez (born 9 March 1974), commonly known as Santi, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently manager of the Spain under-21 national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Denia and the second or maternal family name is Sánchez.

Santi
Santi as Spain U19 manager
Personal information
Full name Santiago Denia Sánchez
Date of birth (1974-03-09) 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 U21 (manager)
Youth career
Albacete
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1995 Albacete 98 (2)
1995–2005 Atlético Madrid 225 (7)
2005 → Albacete (loan) 12 (0)
2005–2007 Albacete 26 (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 (caretaker)
2010–2018 Spain U16
2011–2018 Spain U17
2018–2022 Spain U19
2022 Spain U20
2022– Spain U18
2022– Spain U21
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Spain (as manager)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Runner-up2017
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He appeared in 297 La Liga matches over 11 seasons (two goals scored), with Albacete and Atlético Madrid. He won the 1996 league championship with the latter club.

Club career

Born in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Santi began playing professionally with his hometown side Albacete Balompié. He made his La Liga debut at age 18, and immediately became an undisputed starter as they constantly managed to retain their top-flight status.[1][2]

Santi signed for Atlético Madrid in the summer of 1995, being crowned league and Copa del Rey champion in his first season as part of a defensive line which also included youth graduates Juan Manuel López and Roberto Solozábal. He appeared in 37 league matches during the campaign.[3][4]

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 in the first half of the season, and was subsequently allowed to leave on loan in January 2005 to his first club.[5] The move was made permanent in June and he retired after two more years, with Albacete now in the Segunda División.[6]

Santi eventually returned to Atlético Madrid in early February 2009, as assistant to newly-appointed Abel Resino who had replaced Javier Aguirre.[7][8] He was a caretaker manager for the fixture against RCD Mallorca on 24 October, before the appointment of Quique Sánchez Flores.[9]

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).[10] He still featured in a friendly win over Sweden in March 1998,[11] but did not make the cut for the finals in France.

Previously, Santi appeared for the nation at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[12][13] After retiring, he acted as head coach to Spain's under-16, under-17,[14] under-19[15] and under-20 national teams, leading the third age group to the UEFA European Championship in 2019.[16]

In December 2022, after Luis de la Fuente was promoted to the full side following Luis Enrique's resignation, Santi was named the former's replacement at the helm of the under-21s.[17]

Honours

Player

Atlético Madrid

Spain U21

Manager

References
  1. El día que Maradona se cruzó con el Albacete (The day Maradona crossed paths with Albacete); La Tribuna de Albacete, 26 November 2020 (in Spanish)
  2. Santi Denia: «Al jugador que esté preparado hay que adelantarle los procesos» (Santi Denia: "Whenever a footballer is ready the stages must be accelerated"); La Voz de Galicia, 1 September 2021 (in Spanish)
  3. “López me decía: 'disfrútalo'” ("López used to say: 'enjoy'"); Mundo Deportivo, 23 May 2006 (in Spanish)
  4. Una pareja de centrales crecida (Growing stopper duo); El País, 30 November 2012 (in Spanish)
  5. Atlético farewell for Santi; UEFA, 13 January 2005
  6. Hasta siempre capitán (Farewell captain); La Verdad, 17 June 2007 (in Spanish)
  7. El Atlético de Madrid rescinde el contrato de Aguirre y ficha a Abel Resino (Atlético de Madrid terminate Aguirre's contract and sign Abel Resino); Europa Press, 3 February 2009 (in Spanish)
  8. Santi será el segundo de Abel y Peiró el preparador físico (Santi will be Abel's assistant and Peiró the physio); Mundo Deportivo, 3 February 2009 (in Spanish)
  9. El 'sueño' de Santi Denia (Santi Denia's 'dream'); El Mundo, 23 October 2009 (in Spanish)
  10. Luis Enrique ¡aclamado! (Luis Enrique cheered!); Mundo Deportivo, 12 October 1997 (in Spanish)
  11. La selección va que chuta (National team are a real craze); Mundo Deportivo, 26 March 1998 (in Spanish)
  12. Mágico gol de Óscar (Óscar wonder goal); Mundo Deportivo, 21 July 1996 (in Spanish)
  13. Óscar, otra vez vital (Óscar, crucial again); Mundo Deportivo, 23 July 1996 (in Spanish)
  14. Santi Denia cita a seis representantes del fútbol valenciano con la Selección Española Sub-17 (Santi Denia calls six members of Valencian football to Spain's Under-17 national team); Valencian Community Football Federation, 23 February 2016 (in Spanish)
  15. Santi Denia da la lista de convocados para dos amistosos con México (Santi Denia names squad for two friendlies with Mexico); Diario AS, 24 August 2021 (in Spanish)
  16. España conquista su octavo europeo sub-19 (Spain conquer their eighth under-19 European Championship); La Verdad, 27 July 2019 (in Spanish)
  17. Ya hay recambio para Luis de la Fuente al frente de la Sub-21 (We already have a replacement for Luis de la Fuente at the helm of the Under-21s); La Razón, 9 December 2022 (in Spanish)
  18. 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)
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