Rafa Santacruz

Rafael "Rafa" Carlos Santacruz Aragonés (born 27 January 1983) is a Spanish footballer who plays mainly as a central defender for CA Espeleño.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Santacruz and the second or maternal family name is Aragonés.
Rafa Santacruz
Personal information
Full name Rafael Carlos Santacruz Aragonés
Date of birth (1983-01-27) 27 January 1983
Place of birth Córdoba, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Atlético Espeleño
Youth career
Valladolid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Valladolid B
2004–2005 Valencia B 25 (2)
2005 Valencia 1 (0)
2005–2006 Real Madrid C 30 (9)
2006–2007 Real Madrid B 17 (0)
2007–2008 Ceuta 29 (1)
2008–2009 Linares 32 (4)
2009–2010 Conquense 28 (3)
2010–2011 Albacete 0 (0)
2011 Hospitalet 11 (0)
2011–2012 Puertollano 20 (3)
2012–2013 Pozoblanco 22 (3)
2013–2015 Lucena 62 (2)
2015–2016 Ciudad Lucena 22 (6)
2016–2017 Pozoblanco 33 (3)
2017–2019 Atlético Porcuna 58 (9)
2019–2021 Pozoblanco 40 (7)
2021– Atlético Espeleño 47 (6)
International career
1999 Spain U16 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:50, 10 April 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Santacruz was born in Córdoba, Andalusia. After starting out at Real Valladolid Promesas, he joined Valencia CF's reserves. On 10 April 2005, he made his only La Liga appearance with the latter's first team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–2 home draw against Málaga CF.[1]

Subsequently, Santacruz spent one season apiece for Real Madrid's C and B sides, suffering relegation from Segunda División with the latter in 2007. After that, he returned to Segunda División B and represented in quick succession AD Ceuta, CD Linares and UB Conquense.[2]

In the summer of 2010, the 27-year-old Santacruz went back to division two, signing for Albacete Balompié.[3] In the following transfer window, however, he left without one single official appearance and resumed his career in the third tier. He retired well into his 30s, having competed in the Tercera División[4] and the Andalusian regional leagues.[5]

References
  1. Valencia 2–2 Málaga; ESPN Soccernet, 10 April 2005
  2. Balderas, Miguel Ángel (26 November 2013). "La última plantilla que descendió con el Castilla. ¿Qué fue de ellos?" [The last squad to be relegated with Castilla. What happened to them?] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  3. El Albacete confirma los fichajes del delantero Asen y del defensa Santacruz (Albacete confirm signings of forward Asen and defender Santacruz); Marca, 14 July 2010 (in Spanish)
  4. Rafa Santacruz volverá a vestir la elástica del Club Deportivo Pozoblanco (Rafa Santacruz will don Club Deportivo Pozoblanco jersey again); Hoy al Día, 10 July 2016 (in Spanish)
  5. El Porcuna se aprovecha del Oriente, que no arranca (Porcuna take advantage of Oriente, who do not get it started); Ideal, 24 September 2018 (in Spanish)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.