Amancio Amaro

Amancio Amaro Varela (La Coruña, October 16, 1939-Madrid, February 21, 2023), better known simply as Amancio, was a footballer Spanish, historical player of the Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña and the Real Madrid Football Club and honorary president of Real Madrid since October 2, 2022. European champion of clubs and national teams and winner of the Bronze Ball (1964), He is considered, along with Luis Suárez, as one of the best Galician players of all time due to his achievements and career.

He led, along with Paco Gento, the historic generation of Spanish footballers from Real Madrid C.F. of the 1960s, called the "Madrid of the yeyé", who dominated the country's football and won the sixth Copa del Rey. Europe of the club's history with a team made up exclusively of Spanish players and with which he recorded the greatest achievements of his career.

Nicknamed "El Brujo" for his ability to perform improbable or highly difficult dribbles and plays, he retired after 18 seasons in professional football where he accumulated a total of 14 titles, having scored 224 goals in 579 games and having proclaimed three times top scorer in the league championship, one in the Second Division, and two in the First Division. He was an absolute international with the Spanish team with whom he played 42 games and scored eleven goals, his greatest achievement being the conquest of the Euro 1964 Championship.

These successes made him listed as the 47th best footballer of all time by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics - IFFHS (in English: International Federation of Football History and Statistics ) in April 1990, and as the 8th best Spanish player of the century xx. He was also awarded two Medals of Silver for Sports Merit, and in 2001 he was awarded the Gold Medal for his sports career among many others.

Career

Origins

Amancio began his football career at the age of fifteen when he joined a youth team in his hometown, the Victoria Club de Fútbol, a team that he left after four years to join the biggest club in Galician football in the 1958-59 season. the Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña, which at that time was active in the Second Division.

After making his professional debut on September 28 in a match against Real Avilés Club de Fútbol with a 0-1 defeat, in the middle of the season he became one of the team's leaders. In his first season the team finished mid-table, but the following he was one of the candidates for promotion, which finally occurred in his fourth year. Amancio was the great architect of the team's promotion to the highest category by being the absolute top scorer of the championship after scoring 25 goals in 26 games. His great performances caught the attention of the scouts of the big teams for acquiring his services, among them some like Real Oviedo, the Barcelona Football Club or the Real Madrid Football Club. After a meeting in Coruña to bring closer positions with the Barcelona fans, an offer came from Madrid that made him opt for them. However, it was not easy due to the financial demands of the Galician club to let him go.

His splendor at Real Madrid

After two failed meetings, where the Deportivistas set a high amount for the transfer, it was nothing other than the insistence of the then Madrid president Santiago Bernabéu through which the signing of the player was finally completed. A high sum and several players was the final price that the president signed, prior to the disagreement of the board of directors and social workers over his signing and who were unaware of Bernabéu's movements. It was a risky operation that put the club's economy in check. However, sporting performance ended up proving the president right, and cleaning up the battered economy.

The Madrid club, which intended to continue its impressive dominance in Spanish and European football, was also reinforced with other players to begin the transition of a team, the so-called "Madrid of Di Stéfano" or the five European Cups, that was beginning to be loaded with veterans. Ignacio Zoco, Lucien Müller and Yanko Daucik also arrived with him.

The player made his debut with the club in European competition against Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, which ended with a three-goal draw at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. After the tie, he made his league debut against Real Betis Balompié in Seville, with a favorable result of 2-5. He was the author of the 2-3 score that put his team ahead before Ferenc Puskás sealed it with two goals from his hat-trick. Amancio was, along with Magyar, the attacking reference of the team coached by Miguel Muñoz, and where a veteran Alfredo Di Stéfano had delayed his position and was in charge more of the creation game. He managed to score 15 goals in 38 games of the season, six less than those scored by the Spanish-Argentine, being the third highest scorer in his first season, which helped him win his first league title. Eight others arrived after him.

Little by little his fame achieved great international renown and with just a couple of years in Madrid, the Milan Associazione Calcio attempted to sign him in 1964, but the player's value, quadrupled since his arrival, was too much for an Italian club that He wanted the recently consecrated European champion of national teams to counteract the effect that his compatriot Luis Suárez had on the Football Club Internazionale, neighbor and historical rival of the Milanese. His great dribbling skill and his scoring success led him to win the Ball Bronze and become a starter of the team. Two years later, his goal in the final helped them win the European Cup, the club's sixth, after losing the 1964 final and overcoming a long period of injury. In the top European competition he was also one of the most prolific scorers of the time.

Already a reference for Real Madrid C.F., he had the honor of being called up in 1968 to be part of the FIFA world team squad, in a match against the Brazilian team in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of achieving his first world championship. Despite delaying his position, he continued as one of the leaders of the attack and the team along with the veteran Gento, Manuel Velázquez, José Martínez Pirri and Ignacio Zoco.

Amancio retired on June 30, 1976 after having played 471 games in which he scored 155 goals, placing him as the fourth highest scorer in the history of Real Madrid C.F., behind Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and Paco Gento.

Stage as a coach: gestation of the «Quinta de El Buitre»

After his active period he joined the coaching staff of the Madrid club, first in the training categories with the direction of the youth team until years later taking charge of the Castilla Club de Fútbol, the subsidiary team, in 1982, when the elected president Luis de Carlos brought him back into the club.

Journalist Julio César Iglesias was the first to use the nickname, in an article published by the newspaper El País on November 14, 1983 titled "Amancio y la quinta del Buitre." In it, Iglesias talked about a group of five footballers who at that time stood out for Castilla, which was proclaimed champion of the Spanish Second Division in 1983-84.

The event occurred under his direction after beating the Bilbao Athletic subsidiary of Julio Salinas and Genar Andrinua on the last day, coached by José Ángel Iribar. The team was made up of the legendary generation of "La Quinta de El Buitre" that alternated its performance in the reserve team with appearances in the first team. It was made up of Emilio Butragueño - sports leader of the generation -, Míchel González, Miguel Pardeza, Manolo Sanchís and Rafael Martín Vázquez.

“Castilla Club of Football, splendor in the grass

If football was an exact science, the success of Castile would only be a mathematical equality: with yesterday's day, fifteen points, five positives, twenty-five goals in favor, eleven against. If football was only a science, the success of Butragueño, front center head, would be a simple numerical fact: fifteen goals in eleven matches. Butragueño’s winning series, El Buitre, is a sample of personal quality and is also the result of a sum of effort. Behind El Buitre are the work of a trainer with imagination, Amancio Amaro, mister AA, and the collective ingenuity of Michel, Pardeza, Sanchís and Martín Vázquez. A promotion to which the fans begin to call The fifth of the vulture.

Butragueño’s winning series, El Buitre, is a sample of personal quality and is also the result of a sum of effort. Behind El Buitre are the work of a trainer with imagination, Amancio Amaro, mister AA, and the collective ingenuity of Michel, Pardeza, Sanchís and Martín Vázquez. A promotion to which the fans begin to call The fifth of the vulture. [...]
However, the ascension of El Buitre has been an associative phenomenon; its game and its goals have been possible thanks to the rare coincidence of a popular emotion, of a taste of the fancied, and of a fifth of fulgurant ends and medium-fielders fine and geometric. The goals of El Buitre are from Fuenteovejuna. From everyone to one. [...]”

Julio César Iglesias, November 14, 1983. Madrid.

The expectation to see the young footballers was such that sometimes they played their matches at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Their matches had almost as many spectators as the first team matches, such as the Copa del Rey matches or against the aforementioned Bilbao Athletic with whom they had a great rivalry and dispute, and which attracted up to eighty thousand spectators. Their results also included They were supported by great performances in the Copa del Rey, a competition that was played until the Federation banned affiliate teams, and where they eliminated several First Division teams in their participation.

Subsequently, and due to the successes, he took charge of the first team as a continuation of the project, until he was replaced by Luis Molowny in a joint decision with the board before the end of the season. Despite the shaky course he seemed to be on the team, where it was knocked out of the league title in the last third of the same, and the situation was aggravated by a defeat in the derby by 0-4, followed by another in Mestalla by 1-0, and especially the first leg tie of the UEFA Cup semi-finals, where they lost 2-0 against Football Club Internazionale without even getting close to the rival goal and going six consecutive games without scoring in what was one of the worst records in their history. After him One of the most memorable phrases in the club's history occurred, when Juan Gómez Juanito uttered the phrase to a rival: “Ninety minutes at the Bernabéu are very long”. The second leg was one of the historic European comebacks after winning 3-0. They finally won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup, without Amancio at the helm, although the Galician continued to be linked to the coaching staff.

After a period as a scout, Amancio finally left the club to join the Kelme sports firm, of which he was delegate and responsible for the Madrid area.

In July 2000 he presented himself as a member in the candidacy for the Presidency and Board of Directors led by President Florentino Pérez, and was elected as a member of the board. From that position he promoted the incorporation of former Madrid players in different positions of responsibility at the club. The Board of Directors also agreed that Amancio would take charge of the organization of the Centennial.

National team

Amancio wore the Spanish jersey 42 times, debuting with a 3-1 defeat against the Romanian team on November 25, 1962. In his second game, dated May 30 of the following year, he scored his first goal as absolute international - of the eleven total he scored - and which ended with a one-goal draw against the Northern Irish team.

He was a participant in one of the greatest achievements in the history of the Spanish team, being a member of the starting team in the final of Euro 1964. Held in his club's stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu, his team won 2- 1 to the Soviet team, who were the current champions of the competition.

Later he was part of the FIFA world team in 1968, a team made up of the best footballers of the time according to the international organization that sometimes played friendly matches to celebrate events or commemorative occasions. In this case it was to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the first world championship achieved by Brazil in 1958.

Statistics

Clubs

Updated data to end of sports career.

Club	Season	Div.	League		Cups		International		Total		Media Shotgun
			Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
R. C. D. La Coruña	1958-59	2. a	11	3	6	4	Inaccessible		17	7	0.41
	1959-60		26	10	4	5	Inaccessible		30	15	0.50
	1960-61		29	16	4	4	Inaccessible		33	20	0.61
	1961-62		26	25	2	2	Inaccessible		28	27	0.96
	Total club		92	54	16	15	0	0	108	69	0.64
Real Madrid C. F.	1962-63	1. a	28	14	8	1	2	-	38	15	0.39
	1963-64		24	6	3	1	8	3	35	10	0.29
	1964-65		22	9	-	-	5	6	27	15	0.56
	1965-66		25	8	2	-	7	5	34	13	0.38
	1966-67		25	7	5	-	6	-	36	7	0.19
	1967-68		28	10	8	5	7	4	43	19	0.44
	1968-69		29	14	1	-	2	1	32	15	0.47
	1969-70		29	16	9	6	3	1	41	23	0.56
	1970-71		19	6	2	-	9	-	30	6	0.20
	1971-72		28	6	6	-	3	1	37	7	0.19
	1972-73		25	8	2	-	7	1	34	9	0.26
	1973-74		26	8	3	-	1	-	30	8	0.27
	1974-75		17	3	7	1	2	-	26	4	0.15
	1975-76		19	4	2	-	7	-	28	4	0.14
	Total club		344	119	58	14	69	22	471	155	0.33
Total career			436	173	74	29	69	22	579	224	0.39
↑ Includes data from the Cup of the Generalísimo (1958-76). ↑ It includes data from the European Cup (1962-76); Intercontinental Cup (1966); UEFA Cup (1971-74); European Cup (1970-75). ↑ It does not include goals in friendly matches.

Selections

Updated data to end of sports career.

Selection	Season	Friendly		Euro		World		Total		Media Shotgun
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Absolute SpainSpain	1962-63	1	-	2	1	-	-	3	1	0.33
	1963-64	1	-	3	3	-	-	4	3	0.75
	1964-65	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	0
	1965-66	1	-	-	-	2	1	3	1	0.33
	1966-67	1	-	1	-	-	-	2	0	0
	1967-68	1	2	4	1	-	-	5	3	0.60
	1968-69	2	-	-	-	5	1	7	1	0.14
	1969-70	3	-	-	-	1	1	4	1	0.25
	1970-71	3	-	2	-	-	-	5	0	0
	1971-72	1	-	2	-	-	-	3	0	0
	1972-73	1	-	-	-	3	1	4	1	0.25
	1973-74	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	0	0
Total career		16	2	14	5	12	4	42	11	0.26
↑ It includes Eurocopa data and classification processes. ↑ It includes World Cup data and qualifying processes.

Palmarés

In addition to the official titles, but of a friendly nature, he achieved with the Real Madrid Football Club: two Ramón de Carranza trophies, and one respectively of the Teresa Herrera trophy, the Mohamed V trophy, the Ciudad de Palma trophy and the Colombino trophy.

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
League Championship	Real Madrid C. F.	Spain	1962-63
League Championship			1963-64
League Championship			1964-65
League Championship			1966-67
League Championship			1967-68
League Championship			1968-69
Cup			1969-70
League Championship			1971-72
Cup			1973-74
League Championship			1974-75
Cup			1974-75
League Championship			1975-76

International championships

Note *: including selection.

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
European Nations Cup	Spain	Brussels	1964
European Cup	Real Madrid C. F.	Madrid	1965-66

Individual distinctions

Distinction	Year
Gold Medal - Royal Sports Merit Order	2001

Individual

• Bronze ball: 1964.
• Pichichi: 1968-69 and 1969-70.
• Second Division Pichichi: 1961-62.
• Best sportsman" of Castilla in 1968 and 1969, "Best professional sportsman" in 1975, Gold Medal of the Provincial Sports of Madrid in 1975, Placa de Plata al Deporte Provincial de Madrid in 1975 and Medalla al Mérito Deportivo de La Coruña in 1976.