Mario Alberto Santana (born 23 December 1981) is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former professional player, in the role of winger.

Club career

Early career

Santana started his career in his native country with

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

. After his contract with San Lorenzo expired, he decided to try his luck in European football, moving to Italy in January 2002 for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

team

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

, then relegated at the end of the season. He then followed his chairman

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club U.S. Città di Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zampari ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

team

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, where he showed high qualities in his role. In 2003, he was then loaned to

side

A.C. ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a ...

(along with

Stefano Morrone Stefano Morrone (born 26 October 1978) is an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career In 1998, he was co-signed by Lazio and Empoli. In 1999, he joined Piacenza along with Flavio Roma and Stefano Di Fiordo to Piacenza as part ...

with

Eugenio Corini Eugenio Corini (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, currently in charge of Serie B club Palermo. A talented, dynamic, and hard-working playmaker, known for his precise long passing, flair, and his a ...

moved to opposite direction), becoming one of the most interesting wingers in the Italian top division, and being first capped for the Argentina national football team in a friendly match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 18 August 2004. He then returned to Palermo, which was just promoted to Serie A at the time, for the following season.

Fiorentina

In May 2006, he was signed by ''la viola'' for €6.5 million (€5 million plus 50% of

Parravicini Parravicini is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamín Solari Parravicini (1898–1974), Argentine artist *Florencio Parravicini (1876–1941), Argentine actor *Francesco Parravicini Francesco Parravicini (born 3 ...

) to prepare for

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

3rd qualifying round. But due to

2006 Serie A scandal 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Fiorentina finished 9th and did not qualify for any European competitions. In the 2009–10 season, ''La Viola'' signed

Marco Marchionni Marco Marchionni (; born 22 July 1980) is an Italian professional football coach and former Italian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head coach of club Potenza. A versatile player, he was capable of playing in seve ...

, making Santana first became a backup player, likes the first group stage of

2009–10 UEFA Champions League The 2009–10 UEFA Champions League was the 55th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 18th under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played on 22 May 2010, at the Santiago Bernabéu St ...

match against

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, substituted Marchionni in the 72 minutes. He started the third group stage match, as Marchionni was rested. In the 4th match, he lost his starting place again to Marchionni. He substituted

Juan Vargas Juan Carlos Vargas (born March 7, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who has been the U.S. representative for California since 2013. His district includes all of Imperial County and the southernmost portions of San Diego County. V ...

in the 77th minute of that match. In the last two matches of the group stage, Santana played a new role as an attacking midfielder as

Adrian Mutu Adrian Mutu (; born 8 January 1979) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is in charge of Liga I club Rapid București. During his playing career, he was deployed as a forward or an attacking midfielder. Mutu starte ...

was rested. In the league, Santana was moved to left midfield position (rotated with Vargas), attacking midfielder, second striker (when Mutu was unavailable and later the coach preferred Jovetić) or right midfielder when Marchionni was rested. Santana initially had a better chance to play after

Martin Jørgensen Lars Martin Jørgensen (; born 6 October 1975) is a Danish former professional footballer played as a midfielder or defender. He works as talent manager for AGF. Jørgensen amassed 102 caps and scored 12 goals for the Denmark national team. ...

left in January 2010. On 14 February 2010, Santana was injured on the league match against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

, missed the Champions League match against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. In April 2010, Santana was injured and expected to be out for 5 months after clash with opponent goalkeeper in a club friendly against San Miniato Basso.

Napoli and loans to Cesena and Torino

On 12 July 2011, Santana finally agreed to sign with

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

over

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, leaving

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

after five years. He moved on loan to

A.C. Cesena A.C. Cesena, commonly referred to as Cesena (), was an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. The club spent most of its history in professional leagues such as Serie A and Serie B, but went bankrupt and folde ...

on 31 January 2012. On 12 July 2012, Santana was loaned out to newly promoted

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

for the 2012–2013 Serie A campaign.

Genoa, later years and return to Palermo

On 19 July 2013, Santana completed a move from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. In the January 2014 transfer window, he left Italy after 12 years competing in Serie A, signing a loan deal with

Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

in Portugal. He left Frosinone in January 2016 to sign a permanent deal with

Lega Pro The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club Pro Patria, staying at the club also after the club's relegation to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

the following season. On 22 June 2018, after Pro Patria won the Serie D title, he signed a contract extension until 2019. He left Pro Patria by the end of the 2018–19 season. In August 2019, he became the first signing of the refounded

, who will restart from Serie D, thus marking his return with the ''Rosanero'' after thirteen years. He was also named team captain for the club's 2019–20 season. On 27 September 2020, following his appearance in Palermo's first game of the

2020–21 Serie C The 2020–21 Serie C was the seventh season of the unified Serie C division, the third tier of the Italian football league system. Teams The league was initially to be contested by 60 teams, but was reduced to 59 following the exclusion of Trap ...

season against

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso d'Italia) ...

, Santana became the first player in the club's history to have played in four different leagues (from Serie A to Serie D). A month later, he was sidelined after having contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 3 March 2021, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 away win at

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

in the

Sicilian derby The Derby di Sicilia or Sicilian Derby in English, is a local derby between football in Italy, Italian football (soccer), football clubs Calcio Catania and S.S.D. Palermo. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and th ...

, which also was his first goal of the season; with this goal, he also became the first player to have ever scored at least one goal in the top four Italian divisions for Palermo. On 14 July 2023, after two years in a coaching capacity at Palermo, Santana returned to active football as a player for

Eccellenza Sicily Eccellenza Sicily ( it, Eccellenza Sicilia) is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in Sicily, Italy. It is competed amongst 32 teams, in two different groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The clubs w ...

club Athletic Club Palermo. He left the club just four months later, after appearing sparingly with the first team. In January 2024, he switched to

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

, joining Serie A2 team Palermo C5.

Coaching career

On 18 June 2021, Palermo announced Santana's retirement from active football, and his subsequent appointment as a youth team coach. On 16 January 2022, new Palermo first team head coach

Silvio Baldini Silvio Baldini (born 11 September 1958 in Massa) is an Italian association football manager, last in charge of Serie B club Perugia. Career Early years Born in Massa but hailing from nearby Carrara, Baldini started his coaching career in 1984 ...

announced Santana will be part of his coaching staff until the end of the season. Following Baldini's departure and the hiring of

(a former Palermo captain during Santana's first period with the ''Rosanero'') as new head coach, Santana was confirmed as a first-team technical collaborator.

International career

He also played for Argentina at the

Confederations Cup 2005 The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners ...

and has been frequently capped for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

qualification matches.

Personal life

Santana acquired his Italian nationality through marriage to his first wife, Italian-Argentinian volleyball player Antonella Moltrasio. His nationality was granted in February 2008. He had two children from his first marriage. He successively remarried with a woman from Palermo, with whom he had two more children.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

, - , 1, , 18 August 2004, ,

Shizuoka Stadium is a sports stadium used primarily for football. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring Kakegawa. ...

Fukuroi 270px, Shizuoka Stadium is a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,395 in 34,842 households, and a population density of 820 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Fukuroi is a me ...

Japan, , , , 1–2, , 1–2, ,

Friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

References

External links

Profile at ACF Fiorentina official siteGuardian statistics
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Mario 1981 births Living people People from Comodoro Rivadavia Footballers from Chubut Province Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Argentina men's international footballers 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Venezia FC players Palermo FC players AC ChievoVerona players ACF Fiorentina players SSC Napoli players AC Cesena players Torino FC players Genoa CFC players S.C. Olhanense players Frosinone Calcio players Aurora Pro Patria 1919 players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Primeira Liga players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Naturalised citizens of Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Italian people of Argentine descent Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy