A career in the all-white of Real

Amancio simply had it all : equal ability with both feet, good dribbling skills, swiftness and a good technique. A lively player who proved a handful for most defences, the little winger carved himself a successful career as of 1962 when he joined Real Madrid, notching up 42 caps in the process.

With the national squad he won the European nations Cup (as it was then known), beating the USSR 2-1 in the final in somewhat familiar surroundings - Real Madrid's home stadium. Indeed, it was Amancio who put Spain through to the final after scoring an extra time goal against Hungary in the semis.

Retained in the national squad prior to the World Cup in Chile (1962), while playing for Deportivo in Spain's second division, the little winger was disappointed not to be kept in the final team selection for the 1962 Mondial. Incidentally, Spain failed to make it past the first round.

At Di Stefano and Gento's side

At home, Amancio continued to shine for Real, eventually becoming team captain and having the honour of playing alongside the legendary Alfredo di Stefano, Francisco Gento and Ferenc Puskas. He decided to quit the game at the age of 36, although he could have continued playing for his one and only professional club thanks to superb physical fitness - at the age of 36 he weighed exactly the same as he did 16 years earlier. His Yugoslav coach, Miljanic, was never short of according him praise : "I'm dumbstruck with admiration when I watch him train, play and lead his life, all of which he does with the utmost sincerity and success".

Having given up playing professionally, Amancio left the club with a winner's medal from the league title (his ninth) and the green light from Santiago Bernabeu to begin co-ordinating Real's youth policy. His only black, and unfair, mark in the game remains his sending-off against Bayern Munich in 1975 during his last ever European Cup match. A pity really, since such competition was dear to him, having disputed two finals (in 1964 and 1966), and won one (1966) in Brussels against Partizan Belgrade (2-1), during which he scored Real's first goal.