Amancio Amaro, European champion with Real Madrid and Spain, dies

MADRID, 21 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Former Galician soccer player Amancio Amaro, European champion with Real Madrid, of which he was its current Honorary President, and with the Spanish team, has died at the age of 83, as confirmed by the Madrid team on Tuesday.

"Real Madrid CF, its president and its Board of Directors deeply regret the death of Amancio Amaro, Honorary President of Real Madrid and one of the great legends of our club and world football," the club said in a statement.

The 14-time European champion expressed "his condolences and affection for his wife Consuelo, his children Óscar, Belén, Amancio, Patricia, Marcos and Claudia, his brother Juan Carlos, his grandchildren and all his relatives, colleagues and loved ones. dear ones".

"Amancio Amaro will be remembered by all Real Madrid fans and by all football fans as one of the great myths of this sport. Real Madrid extends its condolences to all Real Madrid fans. Rest in peace," Real Madrid said.

Amancio is considered one of the best wingers in the history of Spanish football and one of the legends of the merengue team in which he spent a large part of his career and with which he won the European Cup, the sixth for the entity, in the year 1966, with the so-called Real Madrid Ye-Ye.

The Galician, signed in 1962 from Deportivo de La Coruña, spent 14 seasons at the Madrid club, which "always set an example for Real Madrid and for the entire sports world" and which last year had appointed him the new president of Honor to fill the void left by another myth like Paco Gento, who died at the beginning of 2022.

Amancio Amaro played 471 games with the Real Madrid shirt, where he won nine League titles, three Cups and, above all, the 1996 European Cup at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels where he scored 1-1 in the 2-1 win against Partizan Belgrade. In all, he scored 155 points.

In addition, the Galician striker also played a leading role with the national team, with which he was the historic European champion in 1964 against the USSR at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the anecdote that for many years it was believed that he had been the author of the pass Marcelino's work from 2-1 due to an error in the match setup, when it had been Chus Pereda. The man from A Coruña, who was also third in voting for the Ballon d'Or that year, wore the 'Red' shirt for 42 games, scoring eleven goals and playing in the 1966 World Cup in England.

After leaving football, Amancio was a protagonist at Real Madrid for his role in the subsidiary, Castilla, with whom he won the Second Division title in the 1983-1984 season, ahead of another subsidiary like Bilbao Athletic, and where he was the forger of the famous 'Quinta del Buitre'.

"Because of what he represents and the dissemination of values ​​throughout his career, Amancio is one of the best players in our history and one of the best wingers in world football. He was Paco Gento's teammate in the 1966 European Cup final and Paco, and of course Alfredo di Stéfano, will be proud. You have earned the love of all of us who love this club and the respect and admiration of all the fans", stressed Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, the day the The club's Assembly elected the Galician as the new Honorary President.