“Amancio was one of the best players in the history of world football”

When ranking the best footballers in history at the international level, everyone thinks of Maradona, Pelé, Cruyff, Di Stéfan or, more recently, Messi. But there’s a name that doesn’t usually appear in the general public, even though those who have met him or shared the locker room claim: Amancio Amaro Varela.

Coruña is considered one of the greats. The first Spanish player included in the FIFA team and “one of the five best in world history”, says Isidoro San José, his teammate at Real Madrid.

Javier Irureta

“He ran, stopped, let the defenders pass and dribbled them”

Javier Irureta was one of the opponents that Amancio had as lovers. “I know that those who defended him were outraged. He was very fast, he ran, braked, missed defenders and dribbled them,” explains the former coach of Deportivo and former football player of Atlético de Madrid and Athletic Club Bilbao, among others.

Vicente del Bosque

“He was one of those veterans who helped the youngsters fit into the first team”

For Vicente del Bosque, with whom he shared the dressing room last season and the beginnings of the former Spain coach, Amancio “was a wonderful man”. He recalls how, even though football threatened him with retirement, he was never ashamed to cooperate with newcomers. Quite the opposite. “He was one of those veterans who helped the youngsters integrate into the first team.”

As a soccer player, he believes that “he was very respected within the profession” and is full of praise describing him: “He had a weapon that is out of use today: dribbling. He was very fast and skilled. He had an excellent technique,” he says.

manolete

“When it was my turn to defend him, I didn’t sleep all night because of worry”

He met him in A Coruña, when he was in Fabril, and Amancio in Deportivo, and then he faced him, with the now deceased dressed in white. And, like Irureta, Manuel Ríos Quintanilla, Manolete, he emphasizes how difficult it was for the defenders he had to face. “I can give my word that when it was my turn to defend him, I didn’t sleep all night because of worry. It’s that you knew I would always surpass you. It happened to me in the matches that Fabril played on Thursdays against Deportivo and it happened to me all the time when, as a professional, I had to endure it as an opponent. There are no football players like him today. With that dry dribbling, to which he added devilish speed with a controlled ball.

In the comparison that is sometimes made in A Coruña between Amancio and Luis Suárez, the veteran Dépora president remains with the deceased. “If we talk about his phase here, Amancio was longer. It’s just that we could hardly enjoy Luis. He left too soon. You could say that Amancio almost single-handedly improved with Deportivo,” he says.

Finally, the A Coruña man told an anecdote about the day he had to mark it: “We lost 2-4 at Riazor, he confronted me, left me, I grabbed his shirt, I kept my sleeve, but he kept running and marked our goal. To see if it was good”, he summarizes.

Saint Joseph

“He did things that no one else had seen”

Another one who shared a dressing room with Amancia and can only be undone with good words is Isidoro San José. If as a person “he was as good or more than as a football player”, he was perceived as a ten on the field.

“Today — yesterday — we talked about it among colleagues. It’s hard for someone not to appreciate that. Fortunately or unfortunately, there are myths in football that time leaves in oblivion. But Amancio will be very hard to forget. For me, it was one of the five best in history in the world. He was very fast and at short distances it was impossible to stop him. He, on the other hand, stopped easily. It was like Gento. And when he stopped, he waited for the defender, let him pass and went to the other side. You had to see it. For the football that was played at that time, it must be said that he was very brave, because he hit hard,” he summarizes.

camacho

“Rating it 10 is not enough. I wanted to be like him. He was my idol”

José Antonio Camacho also had words of appreciation for Amancio, not only on a professional level, but also on a personal level.

“Amancio was my idol. I was lucky to be able to play with him and to have him as a coach. And having him as a friend, which was the most important thing; everyone who has dealt with it should agree on that. He was very recognized in football, but as a person he was much better,” he said on Real Madrid TV.

“Hitting him with 10 is not enough for Amancio Amaro. I wanted to be like him, but I didn’t know how to bargain in the same way; although I was lucky to be the last player,” he said.

Valdan

“It’s a pity that there are no more pictures of him, because he reconciles you with football”

Jorge Valdano assures that Amancio is “one of the players who reconciles you to football” while he regrets not having “more pictures” from his time as a player because it was “for enjoyment”.

And, in the same way as San José, the Argentine emphasizes his “courage in football from before”.

Iker Casillas

“He was a person who made you rich every time he spoke”

Among the football people who wanted to praise the figure of Amancio Amaro is Iker Casillas. The exporter emphasized the human quality of Coruña.

“I have very good memories. A brilliant person, who enriched you every time she spoke. A big loss for Real Madrid and all of us who love this club. Always remember him, because he was a great reference for all Real Madrid fans,” he explains.

“I came in 1990 — he continues — and he was with the team. When I saw Amancio in Ciudad Deportiva, I was a bit petrified because he was the idol of all Real Madrid fans. And since you had experience with him, much more,” he adds.

Carlo Ancelotti

“We must preserve his memory”

Carlo Ancelotti went to the funeral chapel to honor the memory of someone who “did a lot for Real Madrid and world football” and for this reason “the memory of Amancio must live on”.

“You have to give him credit for this. A very kind and humble person. We must preserve his memory,” emphasizes Ancelotti, who revealed his first memory of the footballer Amanci. “When he played, he faced Inter and, even though I was very small, I remember he was a danger. His duel with Giacinto Facchetti is one of the most beautiful I have,” he said.

Clifford Luik

“He had a Galician sense of humor. He made you laugh with short sentences. It went very well»

It wasn’t just the world of football that indulged in the character of Amancio. Thus, Clifford Luyk, a former Real Madrid basketball player who joined the white team in the same year as Amancio Amaro, in 1962, pointed out that he “had the gift of making people like him”.

“He had a Galician sense of humor. He made you laugh with short sentences. He had the gift of pleasing people, that’s what he loved the most – he says.

Clifford Luyk who recalled one of his football-basketball games. “We came in the same year and we always commented on it. I remember a lot about him. I have a photo at home of me as a goalkeeper and him as a player. We were playing football and before that he told me that he would kick me from below because it is impossible from above; and in 20 minutes he scored eight goals. The game ended 20-0. Then we continued to play basketball, we started 100-0. And they beat us,” he finished.