At first, he played in midfield, but when Enrique Fernández, who had been manager of Barcelona, took charge, he moved Santamaría to central defence. When the national side called him into the squad for the 1950 World Cup, Fernandez refused to release him, saying he needed to learn his new position; charitably, Santamaría forgave him even after “La Celeste” (the Sky Blue, named for their shirts) won the tournament by beating Brazil in the Maracanã.
He did play four years later, when Uruguay reached the quarter-finals by beating both Scotland and England. After 20 caps for Uruguay, however, he switched allegiances to Spain, winning 16 caps for them and appearing at the 1962 World Cup.
On hanging up his boots, he took charge of Spain’s youth team before becoming Espanyol’s longest-serving manager, between 1971 and 1977, steering them to a third-place finish in 1973. After a stint with Spain’s Under-21 side he was appointed manager of the national team in 1980, two years before the country was due to host the World Cup.
