Marcos Alonso

Short Biography

Marcos Alonso Peña (born 1 October 1959) is a Spanish retired footballer, and a current coach.Known simply as Marcos in his playing days, he played mainly as a right winger but appeared also as a forward, amassing La Liga totals of 302 games and 46 goals over the course of 13 seasons, ten of which were spent with Atlético Madrid and Barcelona (five apiece).A Spanish international during the 1980s, Marcos represented the nation at Euro 1984, helping it finish second.Club careerMarcos was born in Santander, Cantabria. After passing unsuccessfully through Real Madrid's youth ranks, he made his La Liga debuts for hometown's Racing Club de Santander, still not aged 18, being already an automatic first-choice in his second professional season, which ended in relegation.His reputation continued to grow at Atlético Madrid and he was, at the time, the country's most expensive signing, when FC Barcelona paid 150 million pesetas for his services, in 1982. In his first year he scored six goals in 30 matches in the league, and also an injury time header against Real Madrid in the campaign's Copa del Rey final, which ended with a 2–1 win.However, Marcos was also one of four Barça players who failed to find the net in the 1985–86 European Cup final against FC Steaua Bucureşti, in a penalty shootout loss, as goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved all taken attempts.He retired in 1991 after an unassuming return at Atlético Madrid, and after helping first club Racing return to the second division. Subsequently, Marcos became a coach: in his first experience he led lowly Rayo Vallecano to a first-ever win at Real Madrid in the latter's ground (2–1), managing Sevilla FC afterwards (one top flight promotion followed by immediate relegation).In the 2000s, Alonso managed Atlético Madrid – second level, no promotion – Real Zaragoza, Real Valladolid, Málaga CF and Granada 74 CF.International careerMarcos earned 22 caps for Spain, the first coming on 25 March 1981 in a 2–1 friendly win in England. He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 1984, being an unused squad member in an eventual runner-up finish.