MARCOS ALONSO is one of three generations of his family to play football for Spain.
The 32-year-old Barcelona full-back comes from a long line of footballing greats.
His dad, Marcos, also played for Barcelona, while grandad Marquitos played in the greatest ever Real Madrid side.
Former Chelsea star Alonso has also enjoyed a successful career, winning six trophies in six seasons at Stamford Bridge before joining Barca last summer.
It was confirmed today that his father Marcos had passed away aged 63 following a “long illness”.
Together the Alonso family make up possibly the most distinguished footballing dynasty ever.
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GRANDFATHER – Marquitos, full name Marcos Alonso Imaz (Spain debut vs France, March 1955)
Born in 1933, the defender, affectionately known as Marquitos, started his career at hometown club Racing Santander.
Two years later he put in a great performance against Real Madrid – and the club decided to move for him.
The defender would become an integral part of the dominant Los Blancos team alongside Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas that won FIVE European Cups in a row.
Playing across the three full-back positions in the club’s ‘WM’ formation, Marquitos was a stalwart in the starting XI.
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The club website describes him as “versatile and daring”.
They add: “His true position on the pitch was at right-back, but he also showed tremendous qualities as a centre back.”
Marquitos, who also won two caps for Spain, started in four of the five European Cup final triumphs – and even scored in the first ever European Cup final in 1956.
Playing against Stade de Reims, Real Madrid were 3-2 down when the defender poked home from close range to equalise.
Hector Rial then scored the winner.
“I passed the ball to Di Stefano and he gave it back to me,” said the Madrid legend on Alonso’s website.
“I fed [Ramon] Marsal but his shot on goal was parried by the French goalkeeper but it found me and none of the players of Stade de Reims could prevent both efforts. It brought me great joy!”
Real went on to win the European Cup again in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960, the latter game being the amazing 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park that many experts rate one of the most perfect performances ever.
Watched by 135,000 mesmerised fans, the greatest Real Madrid side ever confirmed their place in the footballing hall of fame as a Di Stefano hat-trick rounded off a groundbreaking display.
Overall, Marquitos played 197 times for Real Madrid, and also won five La Liga titles.
He retired in 1971 after a short spell playing for Toluca in Mexico.
Marquitos died on March 6th, 2012, one month before his 79th birthday.
FATHER – Marcos, full name Marcos Alonso Pena (Spain debut vs England, March 1981)
Marcos Alonso Pena was born in 1959 in Santander, and immediately was taken on by Real Madrid where his father had been a legend.
However it didn’t work out for the tricky young winger and he was moved on to his local team Racing Santander.
He then joined Atletico Madrid and in 1982 he became Spanish football’s most expensive signing when Barcelona paid 150million pesetas – or around £800,000 – to sign him.
However, the record didn’t last long.
A few weeks later Barcelona paid £5million to sign Argentinian superstar Diego Maradona.
Managed by Argentina’s World Cup winning boss Cesar Luis Menotti, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey in 1983, beating Real Madrid 2-1 in the final, thanks to a Marcos diving header in injury time.
Two years later Marcos was a key member of the Barcelona side that won La Liga in Terry Venables’ first season in charge, ending an 11-year barren run for the Catalan giants.
The winger, who was capped 22 times for Spain, was one of the four Barca players to miss a penalty in a shoot-out defeat to Steaua Bucharest in the European Cup final in 1986.
Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes arrived that summer but Barcelona failed to sparkle and Venables was sacked and Marcos sold back to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 1987.
Marcos retired in 1991 and turned his hand to management, which took him to eight clubs in Spain, most notably in charge of former club Atletico.
His last managerial post was in 2008 when he was in charge of Granada 74.
Marcos died on February 9th, 2023.
SON – Marcos Alonso, full name Marcos Alonso Mendoza (Spain debut vs Argentina, March 2018)
Marcos Alonso was born in Madrid in December 1990 and, like his father and grandfather before him, joined Real Madrid’s academy aged 12.
Alonso moved seamlessly through the various age groups until finally manager Manuel Pellegrini gave him his debut, as a sub for Gonzalo Higuain in April 2010.
That summer the 19-year-old defender joined Bolton for just £1.5million as his career took an unexpected twist.
The young Spaniard spent three seasons at Bolton, playing 46 games for the club.
He spent most of his time playing for the Under-21s and rarely featured in the first team as Bolton were relegated to the Championship.
However he managed to win over manager Dougie Freedman and in 2013 he was voted The Bolton News’ player of the year – but turned down the offer of a new deal to sign on a free transfer for Italian side Fiorentina.
He was soon back in England as Sunderland manager Gus Poyet brought him in on loan after he failed to make the first team in Florence.
Alonso played 20 times as the Black Cats managed to avoid relegation, and Poyet wanted to make the move permanent in the summer.
But Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella had other ideas and he became their first choice left-back the following season.
He then joined Chelsea in 2016 for £24million, and spent six glittering years at Stamford Bridge.
He won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Europa League and Club World Cup during his time with the Blues.
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Alonso was a regular in the 2016-17 title winning season under Antonio Conte.
In total he made 212 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 29 goals and providing 23 assists before joining Barcelona on a free transfer last summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
