Amancio Amaro Varela, (born 16 October 1939), commonly known simply as Amancio, is a Spanish former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player. Nicknamed ''El Brujo'' (The Magician) he played
outside right
Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...
for
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...
,
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, and the
Spain national team.
Playing career
Early career
Amancio began his career aged 15 at local side
Victoria CF
Victoria Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in the municipality of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1943, they currently play in Preferente de Galicia – Group 1, holding home matches at the ''Campos ...
, in the district of
Falperra–Santa Lucía. In the 1958–59 season, he joined
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...
, which at that time was in the
Spanish second division
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
. When Deportivo were promoted to
first division, Amancio started to call the attention of the scouts for major teams, such as
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
.
Real Madrid
The signing of Amancio by Real Madrid almost did not happen; had it not been for
Santiago Bernabéu Yeste
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
’s insistence in signing the player, his astronomical signing-fee would have spoiled the negotiations.
Along with the signing of Amancio by Real Madrid in June 1962, players such as
Ignacio Zoco
Ignacio Zoco Esparza (31 July 1939 – 28 September 2015) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
He spent 12 years of his professional career with Real Madrid, appearing in more than 400 official matches and winning ten ...
,
Lucien Muller, and
Yanko Daucik
Yanko Daucik Ciboch (22 March 1941 – 13 May 2017) was a Slovak professional football (soccer), footballer during the 1960s and 1970s. Yanko played for Real Betis, Real Madrid, the Toronto Falcons (1967–1968), Toronto Falcons and RCD Españo ...
also arrived. During this time the team was in a transitional phase, since in earlier years the team had swept the competition both in Spain and outside its borders. Amancio made his debut in European competition opposite
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...
(3–3 result in the
Santiago Bernabéu); and in the league against
Real Betis
Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...
in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
with a 5–2 win for Real Madrid.
During the 1963–64 season, Amancio and Real Madrid reached the final of the European Cup, only to be beaten by
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
by 3–1. The following season brought more heartache, with
Benfica eliminating the youthful Madrid side in the quarterfinals. The ensuing season brought success for Madrid, as
Miguel Muñoz
Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager.
A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...
added young players such as
Pirri
José Martínez Sánchez (born 11 March 1945), nicknamed Pirri, is a Spanish former footballer. A central midfielder in the early part of his career, he finished up as a sweeper.
He spent the vast majority of his career with Real Madrid, appear ...
,
Velázquez,
Sanchís and
Grosso. This was known as the "
Yé-Yé
''Yé-yé'' () (''yeyé'' in Spanish) was a style of pop music that emerged in Western-Southern Europe in the early 1960s. The French term "''yé-yé''" was derived from the English "yeah! yeah!", popularized by British beat music bands such as ...
" team. Strong at the back, and devastating going forward, Madrid fought their way to another final, this time against
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
. The venue was
Heysel Stadium
The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in v ...
in Brussels, and on 11 May 1966, Amancio stepped out on to the pitch for his second and last European Cup final.
FK Partizan
Fudbalski klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Партизан, ; en, Partizan Football Club), sometimes known as Partizan Belgrade in English, is a Serbia, Serbian professional football club (association football), football ...
's
Velibor Vasović
Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and one of greatest defenders of his gener ...
scored the first goal of the match. Amancio drew level twenty minutes from the end, after collecting a signature pass, faking out a defender and skillfully booting the ball past the Yugoslav keeper
Milutin Šoškić
Milutin Šoškić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милутин Шошкић; 31 December 1937 – 27 August 2022) was a Serbian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is considered one of FK Partizan's greatest players.
Biography
He was b ...
. Five minutes later, a thunderous shot by teammate
Serena from 30 metres out settled the game. It was Amancio's first and only European Cup winner's medal. In his first 6 seasons in Madrid, he won a breathtaking 6 La Liga titles. He would then go on to win another 3, giving him 9 titles in total. He even took the title of Pichichi on back to back occasions, 1969 and 1970.
As a Real Madrid player, Amancio's reputation reached such international fame, that he had the honour of being called for a world team, promoted by
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.
Amancio retired in 1976 and joined the coaching staff of Real Madrid. After the death of
Francisco "Paco" Gento, he was appointed the honorary president of the club in 2022.
Spain
Amancio wore the Spanish jersey on 42 occasions, debuting before
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. With the team, Amancio was a participant of one of the greatest achievements in the history of the team: winning the
1964 European Football Championship by a 2–1 score against the defending champions, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Career statistics
Clubs
International goals
Source:
Managerial career
Upon retiring, Amancio began coaching the junior teams of
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
. After one season, he decided to dedicate himself to his businesses. In 1982, he was readmitted by Luis de Carlos, who had just won the club's presidential elections.
Amancio once again took charge of
Castilla CF, with which he won the
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...
in his second season. The team included the legendary ''
Quinta del Buitre
is the moniker given by Spanish sport journalist Julio César Iglesias to the five homegrown Real Madrid players who were at the core of the team that dominated Spanish football in the 1980s. The name ("Vulture's Cohort") was derived from Emili ...
'', Made up of
Butragueño,
Míchel,
Sanchis,
Martín Vázquez, and
Pardeza.
In the 1984–85 season, Amancio took charge of the first team. However, the outcome was not as good as expected, and he left his post. After a time as a consultant, Amancio left Real Madrid to join the sports company
Kelme, becoming a representative responsible for the Madrid area.
In July 2000, Amancio was elected as a member of the board of directors of Real Madrid. From this position, he favored the incorporation of former Real players in different positions of responsibility of the club. The board of directors agreed that Amancio would be in charge of the 100th anniversary of Real Madrid.
In 2022, he was appointed to the position of the honorary president of the club.
Honours
Club
;Real Madrid
*
Spanish League:
1962–63,
1963–64,
1964–65,
1966–67,
1967–68,
1968–69,
1971–72,
1974–75,
1975–76
*
Copa del Generalísimo
The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...
:
1969–70,
1973–74,
1974–75
*
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
:
1965–66
International
;Spain
*
European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
:
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
Individual
*
Pichichi:
1968–69,
1969–70
*
Pichichi: Second Division
1961–62
*
Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...
third place: 1964
*
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament At the end of each UEFA European Championship tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game.
Awards
There are currently five post-tournament awards, and o ...
:
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
*
FIFA XI
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
: 1968
FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
National team data
*
at RSSSF
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amancio Amaro
1939 births
Living people
Footballers from A Coruña
Spanish footballers
Association football midfielders
Deportivo de La Coruña players
Real Madrid CF players
La Liga players
Pichichi Trophy winners
UEFA Champions League winning players
Spanish men's futsal players
Inter FS players
Spain international footballers
1964 European Nations' Cup players
1966 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA European Championship-winning players
Spanish football managers
Real Madrid CF non-playing staff
Real Madrid Castilla managers
Real Madrid CF managers
Segunda División managers
La Liga managers