Roberto Santamaría Ciprián (born 27 February 1985) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Santamaría was a product of

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

's youth ranks, and was transferred to

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

in summer 2006. In the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, he spent his first two seasons with the reserves, making his debut with the first team on 23 February 2008 in a

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 ...

match against

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

in which he saved a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

, helping to a 1–0 home win. In the 2009 off-season, Santamaría was loaned to

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 ...

. During the campaign, he played as backup to also newly signed

Gustavo Munúa Gustavo Adolfo Munúa Vera (born 27 January 1978) is a Uruguayan former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, recently Manager (association football), manager of Argentine club Club Atlé ...

, appearing in all of the side's four matches in the

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 ...

. On 12 August 2010, after terminating his Las Palmas contract, Santamaría joined

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

in the second division, replacing

Albert Jorquera Albert Jorquera Fortià (born 3 March 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the bulk of his career with Barcelona (ten years, including loans), during which time he was never more than second or ...

who retired earlier in the summer. He continued to compete in that tier the following years, representing

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

(two spells), Osasuna,

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

and

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

. Santamaría entered Huesca's first season in

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 ...

as second choice behind

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 ...

loanee

Axel Werner Axel Wilfredo Werner (born 28 February 1996) is an Argentine professional footballer as a goalkeeper for Rosario Central, on loan from Spanish club Elche CF. Club career Atlético Rafaela Born in Rafaela, Werner was an Atlético Rafaela youth g ...

, and moved further down the depth chart when Serbian Aleksandar Jovanović was signed from Danish club

Aarhus Gymnastikforening Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

at the end of August. He was given his debut in the competition against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

on 23 December 2018 – aged 33 years and 10 months – by manager Francisco Rodríguez after the team had let in 40 goals in 18 competitive fixtures, making six saves in the 2–1 away defeat and being beaten by

Cristiano Piccini Cristiano Piccini (; born 26 September 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss club Yverdon. Club career Fiorentina Born in Florence, Piccini joined Fiorentina's youth setup in 2002, aged ten, after starti ...

with the last kick of the game. On 27 November 2019, Santamaría moved to

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 ...

in division two, agreeing to a deal until the end of the season. The following 1 September, he signed a one-year contract with fellow league team

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain), La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''Estad ...

. Santamaría signed for second-tier newcomers

SD Amorebieta Sociedad Deportiva Amorebieta is a Spanish football team based in Amorebieta-Etxano, in the Basque Country. Founded in 1925, it currently plays in , holding home games temporarily at the Lezama Facilities outside Bilbao (its own ground '' Campo ...

on 13 July 2021.

Personal life

Santamaría's

uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent, as well as the parent of the cousins. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an un ...

, Roberto Santamaría Calavia, was also a footballer and a goalkeeper. He too represented Osasuna and Málaga, in the 80s/90s. His brother,

Mikel Mikel is the Basque adaptation of the given name Michael. The name Mikel has its roots in the Hebrew word Mikha'el, which means "Who is like God". Notable people with the name include: Footballers *Mikel Alonso (born 1980), Spanish Basque footb ...

, a defender, was also brought up at Osasuna. In 2022, both siblings signed for

CD Tudelano Club Deportivo Tudelano is a Spanish football team based in Tudela, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1935 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Ciudad de Tudela'', with a capacity of 11,000 seats. History Early His ...

and played together for the first time.El sueño de un día de verano para los hermanos Santamaría (The dream of a summer day for the Santamaría brothers)
Diario de Navarra, 11 October 2022 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santamaria, Roberto 1985 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Pamplona Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Segunda Federación players CA Osasuna B players UD Las Palmas Atlético players UD Las Palmas players Málaga CF players Girona FC players CA Osasuna players SD Ponferradina players RCD Mallorca players CF Reus Deportiu players SD Huesca footballers Rayo Vallecano players UD Logroñés players SD Amorebieta footballers CD Tudelano footballers Spain men's youth international footballers