 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Mario Santana" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Santana playing forFiorentina in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Alberto Santana[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-12-23)23 December 1981 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | San Lorenzo | 33 | (2) |
| 2002 | Venezia | 4 | (0) |
| 2002–2006 | Palermo | 91 | (4) |
| 2003–2004 | →Chievo (loan) | 28 | (3) |
| 2006–2011 | Fiorentina | 108 | (15) |
| 2011–2013 | Napoli | 8 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Cesena (loan) | 16 | (3) |
| 2012–2013 | →Torino (loan) | 27 | (4) |
| 2013–2016 | Genoa | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Olhanense (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2015 | →Frosinone (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2016–2019 | Pro Patria | 99 | (32) |
| 2019–2021 | Palermo | 32 | (5) |
| 2023 | Athletic Club Palermo | 5 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Argentina | 7 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2021 | |||
Mario Alberto Santana (born 23 December 1981) is an Argentinefootball coach and former professional player, in the role ofwinger.
Santana started his career in his native country withSan Lorenzo. After his contract with San Lorenzo expired,[citation needed] he decided to try his luck in European football, moving to Italy in January 2002 forSerie A teamVenezia, then relegated at the end of the season. He then followed his chairmanMaurizio Zamparini toSerie B teamPalermo, where he showed high qualities in his role.
In 2003, he was then loaned toSerie A sideA.C. ChievoVerona (along withStefano Morrone withEugenio Corini 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 againstJapan on 18 August 2004. He then returned to Palermo, which was just promoted to Serie A at the time, for the following season.
In May 2006, he was signed byla viola for €6.5 million (€5 million plus 50% ofParravicini) to prepare for2006–07 UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round.[2] But due to2006 Serie A scandal, Fiorentina finished 9th and did not qualify for any European competitions.
In the 2009–10 season,La Viola signedMarco Marchionni, making Santana first became a backup player, likes the first group stage of2009–10 UEFA Champions League match againstLyon, 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 substitutedJuan Vargas 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 asAdrian Mutu 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 afterMartin Jørgensen left in January 2010.
On 14 February 2010, Santana was injured on the league match againstSampdoria, missed the Champions League match againstBayern Munich.[3]
In April 2010, Santana was injured and expected to be out for 5 months after clash with opponent goalkeeper in a club friendly againstSan Miniato Basso.[4]
On 12 July 2011, Santana finally agreed to sign withNapoli overCesena, leavingFiorentina after five years. He moved on loan toA.C. Cesena on 31 January 2012.
On 12 July 2012, Santana was loaned out to newly promotedTorino F.C. for the 2012–2013 Serie A campaign.
On 19 July 2013, Santana completed a move fromNapoli toGenoa.[5] In the January 2014 transfer window, he left Italy after 12 years competing in Serie A, signing a loan deal withOlhanense in Portugal.[6]
He left Frosinone in January 2016 to sign a permanent deal withLega Pro clubPro Patria, staying at the club also after the club's relegation toSerie D the following season. On 22 June 2018, after Pro Patria won the Serie D title, he signed a contract extension until 2019.[7] He left Pro Patria by the end of the 2018–19 season.[8]
In August 2019, he became the first signing of the refoundedPalermo, who will restart from Serie D, thus marking his return with theRosanero after thirteen years.[9] He was also named team captain for the club's2019–20 season.
On 27 September 2020, following his appearance in Palermo's first game of the2020–21 Serie C season againstTeramo, Santana became the first player in the club's history to have played in four different leagues (from Serie A to Serie D).[10] A month later, he was sidelined after having contractedCOVID-19.[11]
On 3 March 2021, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 away win atCatania in theSicilian derby, 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.[12]
On 14 July 2023, after two years in a coaching capacity at Palermo, Santana returned to active football as a player forEccellenza Sicily club Athletic Club Palermo.[13] He left the club just four months later, after appearing sparingly with the first team.[14] In January 2024, he switched tofutsal, joining Serie A2 team Palermo C5.[15]
On 18 June 2021, Palermo announced Santana's retirement from active football, and his subsequent appointment as a youth team coach.[16] On 16 January 2022, new Palermo first team head coachSilvio Baldini announced Santana will be part of his coaching staff until the end of the season.[17] Following Baldini's departure and the hiring ofEugenio Corini (a former Palermo captain during Santana's first period with theRosanero) as new head coach, Santana was confirmed as a first-team technical collaborator.[18]
He also played for Argentina at theConfederations Cup 2005 and has been frequently capped for the2006 World Cup qualification matches.
Santana acquired his Italian nationality through marriage to his first wife, Italian-Argentinian volleyball player Antonella Moltrasio.[19] His nationality was granted in February 2008.[20] He had two children from his first marriage.[21] He successively remarried with a woman from Palermo, with whom he had two more children.[21]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| San Lorenzo | 1999–2000 | Primera División | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||
| 2000–01 | 17 | 1 | — | ?[25]+3[26] | ?[25]+0 | — | 20+ | 1+ | ||||
| 2001–02 | 12 | 0 | — | ?[25] | ?[25] | — | 12+ | 0+ | ||||
| Total | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 3 | ||
| Venezia | 2001–02 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Palermo | 2002–03 | Serie B | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 | ||
| 2004–05 | Serie A | 30 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 3 | |||
| 2005–06 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9[a] | 1 | — | 40 | 1 | |||
| ChievoVerona (loan) | 2003–04 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 3 | |||
| Fiorentina | 2006–07 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 9 | 2 | |||
| 2007–08 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8[a] | 0 | — | 34 | 6 | |||
| 2008–09 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[b] | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5[b] | 1 | — | 35 | 4 | |||
| 2010–11 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 30 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 108 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 18 | ||
| Napoli | 2011–12 | Serie A | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| Cesena (loan) | 2011–12 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 3 | |||
| Torino (loan) | 2012–13 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 4 | |||
| Genoa | 2013–14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| Olhanense (loan) | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Frosinone (loan) | 2014–15 | Serie B | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Pro Patria | 2015–16 | Lega Pro | 16 | 3 | — | — | — | 16 | 3 | |||
| 2016–17 | Serie D | 28 | 12 | 2[27] | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 12 | ||
| 2017–18 | 27 | 15 | 1[28] | 0 | — | 3[29] | 1 | 31 | 16 | |||
| 2018–19 | Serie C | 28 | 2 | 2[30] | 1 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| Total | 99 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 108 | 34 | ||
| Palermo | 2019–20 | Serie D | 12 | 3 | 1[31] | 1 | — | — | 13 | 4 | ||
| 2020–21 | Serie C | 20 | 2 | — | — | 4[c] | 0 | 24 | 2 | |||
| Palermo total | 123 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 143 | 11 | ||
| Career total | 467 | 69 | 23 | 4 | 47 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 545 | 77 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 August 2004 | Shizuoka Stadium,Fukuroi Japan |  Japan | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly |
 | ||