Marcos Alonso Peña (1 October 1959 – 9 February 2023) was a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Known simply as Marcos in his playing days, he played mainly as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

but also as a forward. He amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

totals of 302 games and 46 goals over 13 seasons, with five being spent at

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

and five at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. A Spain international during the 1980s, Marcos represented the nation at Euro 1984, helping it to finish second. He later worked as a coach.

Club career

Marcos was born in Santander,

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

. Following an unsuccessful spell in

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's academy, he made his

debut aged 17 with his hometown side

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. He was first choice in his position during his second professional season, which ended in relegation. Marcos' reputation continued to grow at

, and he was at the time the country's most expensive signing when

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

paid 150 million '' pesetas'' for his services in 1982. In his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

he scored six goals in 30 matches in the league, and also an

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

header against Real Madrid in that campaign's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

final, which ended with a 2–1 win. However, Marcos was also one of four ''Barça'' players who failed to find the net in the final of the

1985–86 European Cup The 1985–86 European Cup was the 31st season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football competition. The European Champion Clubs' Cup was won by Steaua București on penalties in the final against Barcelona. Steaua București became t ...

against

FC Steaua București Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of th ...

, in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss, as

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Helmut Duckadam Helmut Duckadam (, sometimes spelled Helmuth; 1 April 1959 – 2 December 2024) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Duckadam was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his performance in the 1986 European Cup final, ...

saved all taken attempts. He retired in 1991 after a return to Atlético Madrid, marred by a serious knee injury, and after helping his first club Racing to

return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. Subsequently, Alonso became a coach. In his first experience he led lowly

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

to a first-ever victory over Real Madrid at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

(2–1), managing Racing and

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

afterwards ( one top-flight promotion with the latter followed by immediate relegation). In the 2000s, Alonso was in charge of Atlético Madrid – second tier, no promotion–

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

and Granada 74 CF.

International career

Alonso earned 22

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the first coming on 25 March 1981 in a 2–1 friendly win in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He represented the nation at

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, being an unused squad member in an eventual runner-up finish.

Personal life and death

Alonso's father,

Marcos Alonso Imaz Marcos Alonso Imaz (16 April 1933 – 6 March 2012), nicknamed Marquitos, was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. He was best known for his participation in Real Madrid's five European Cup conquests, mainly in the 1950s. Club ca ...

, was also a footballer, who represented Real Madrid in the 1950s and 1960s. His son Marcos Alonso Mendoza also played in the club's youth system and with Spain. Alonso died on 9 February 2023 at age 63, due to cancer.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Alonso goal.''

Honours

Barcelona *

: 1984–85 *

: 1982–83; runner-up 1983–84, 1985–86 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

; runner-up

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

runner-up: 1985–86 Racing Santander *

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

: 1990–91 Spain *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alonso, Marcos 1959 births 2023 deaths Deaths from cancer in Spain 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Santander, Spain Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División B players Racing de Santander players Atlético Madrid footballers FC Barcelona players CD Logroñés footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's B international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1984 players Olympic footballers for Spain Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Rayo Vallecano managers Racing de Santander managers Sevilla FC managers Atlético Madrid managers Real Zaragoza managers Real Valladolid managers Málaga CF managers Alonso family (Madrid)