39 Facts About Santi Cazorla

1.

Santiago "Santi" Cazorla Gonzalez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Al Sadd SC.

2.

Santi Cazorla began his professional career at Villarreal in 2003 after impressing as a youngster with his hometown club, Real Oviedo.

3.

Santi Cazorla continued his development at Villarreal before a short spell at partner club, Recreativo de Huelva.

4.

Santi Cazorla was integral in ending the club's nine-year trophy drought, scoring a crucial free-kick en route to winning the FA Cup in 2014.

5.

Santi Cazorla then returned to Villarreal for a third spell; in his two seasons, he recorded his highest appearance, league goals and assist count since 2015.

6.

Santi Cazorla made his senior debut for Spain in a victory against Peru in May 2008, and was a semi-regular participant in the nation's triumphs at UEFA Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, as well as featuring at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

7.

Santi Cazorla scored his first international goal in a friendly match against Chile, and went on to amass 81 appearances and 15 goals for the national side.

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8.

Santi Cazorla's performances helped the Andalusians finish eighth, and he was named Spain's Player of the Year according to Don Balon, a member of European Sports Magazines, after topping its rating list.

9.

On 26 August 2008, Santi Cazorla announced that Real Madrid were interested in signing him.

10.

Santi Cazorla returned to full fitness in the following campaign, only missing one game and scoring five times as Villarreal finished fourth and qualified to the Champions League.

11.

Santi Cazorla became Arsene Wenger's third major signing of the summer after the arrivals of German attacker Lukas Podolski and French striker Olivier Giroud.

12.

Santi Cazorla picked up the man of the match award on his debut for the club against Sunderland.

13.

Santi Cazorla ended his first season at Arsenal with 12 goals and 14 assists from 49 appearances.

14.

Santi Cazorla returned to pre-season training a few weeks later than normal after his involvement in the Confederations Cup for Spain.

15.

Santi Cazorla started from the bench against Aston Villa but was introduced at half-time after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury.

16.

Santi Cazorla played in every minute of Arsenal's games after that and played an important part in the side's three-straight wins early on in the season.

17.

Santi Cazorla thumped home Arsenal's first against Tottenham before scoring a brace in the win at home to Fulham.

18.

Santi Cazorla tucked home the winning penalty in the shootout against Wigan to send Arsenal to the final of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium.

19.

Santi Cazorla finished the campaign with 7 goals and 47 appearances in all competitions.

20.

Santi Cazorla finished the Premier League season with 11 assists, the second-highest in the League behind Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas, and seven goals.

21.

Santi Cazorla eventually endured eight operations on the problem, and contracted gangrene on the affected area with the infection 'eating' part of the tendon.

22.

The condition required antibiotic treatment and a skin graft, with the skin sourced from Santi Cazorla's left forearm where a tattoo of his daughter's name had featured.

23.

Santi Cazorla temporarily relocated to Salamanca to complete a further recovery programme, with the aim of returning to play football in 2018; after further operations this was revised to 2019.

24.

Santi Cazorla then returned to former club Villarreal in order to train with them during the rest of the pre-season period and prove his fitness.

25.

Santi Cazorla played his first game in 636 days when he appeared in a friendly against Hercules.

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26.

Santi Cazorla came on as a substitute in the 57th minute to a standing ovation.

27.

Santi Cazorla ended the season with 10 assists, the third-most in the league.

28.

Santi Cazorla ended the season with 11 goals and 9 assists in the league.

29.

Santi Cazorla was given a guard of honour by teammates and opponents as he exited the pitch.

30.

On 20 July 2020, Al Sadd confirmed that Santi Cazorla joined the club to play under his former teammate Xavi.

31.

Santi Cazorla began his international career in the Spain under-21 team, under Inaki Saez.

32.

Santi Cazorla was summoned for the following year's FIFA Confederations Cup, where he made a couple of substitute appearances.

33.

Santi Cazorla was selected by Vicente del Bosque for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

34.

Santi Cazorla played ten minutes against Ireland and six against France for the eventual champions.

35.

Santi Cazorla was named in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and was included in the final list for the competition.

36.

Santi Cazorla started the dead rubber third match, a victory over Australia.

37.

Santi Cazorla played and scored in a friendly victory over England the following month, but was not selected for the Euro 2016 finals squad having just come back from injury, and did not feature for his country in 2016 or 2017 due to further long-term injury problems.

38.

Santi Cazorla has three dogs, one of which is named Zlatan after the Swedish footballer.

39.

Santi Cazorla has a son, Enzo, and a daughter, India; their names were tattooed on his forearms, which he would kiss after scoring goals, although the design on his left arm was ruined in 2017 when the skin was needed for use as a graft over his infected right heel.