Madrid (EFE).- Real Madrid has reported that the presidential box at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium will house the funeral chapel with the mortal remains of Amancio Amaro, the club’s honorary president.
From 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. this Tuesday, the burning chapel will be open to fans who wish to say goodbye and honor the former player and honorary president of the club. On Wednesday it will also be open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
For the occasion, an access has been set up in the Plaza de Sagrados Corazones, on the corner of Padre Damián street.
Amancio Amaro (La Coruña, 1939), former player and honorary president of Real Madrid, died this morning at the age of 83, according to the white club.
“A benchmark for Real Madrid and current honorary president of our club, he was a Real Madrid player from 1962 to 1976.
Throughout those 14 seasons he played 471 games, scored 155 goals and became one of the great legends of our team”, the club chaired by Florentino Pérez recalled in a statement.
With “Goodbye Amancio”, Real Madrid bid farewell to a player who arrived at the Santiago Bernabéu in 1962 from Deportivo, with the stripes of having been the top scorer in the Second Division.
Father of the “Quinta del Buitre”
Amancio won the sixth European Cup, 9 Leagues and 3 Spanish Cups with the white team, as well as being top scorer in 1969 and 1970.
He was also an absolute international on 42 occasions with the national team, with which he was part of the team that won the first European Championship in 1964 at the Santiago Bernabéu against the Soviet Union.
That year he was third in the Ballon d’Or after the Scotsman Denis Law and his good friend Luis Suárez.
He even participated with the FIFA world team that faced Brazil in the Maracana in 1968.
The Galician winger, who retired in June 1976, was also an important man on the Real Madrid bench, especially at the head of the first subsidiary, Castilla, with whom he won the Second Division championship in the 1983/84 campaign , a historical landmark, and with which he was considered the ‘father’ of the famous Quinta del Buitre.
File image of Amancio Amaro in his time as a Rel Madrid player. EFE
Honorary President unanimously
His death comes just over a year after the death of the previous honorary president of the Santiago Bernabéu entity, Paco Gento, with whom he shared many moments, including the 1966 continental title in which the Galician opened the scoring for the triumph against Partizan, and a few months after being unanimously elected for said honor at the club’s Extraordinary General Assembly held on October 2, 2022.
“This appointment is an honor. I am very excited. I can only thank everyone. My colleagues and friends Alfredo Di Stéfano and Paco Gento have been my predecessors and it is an honor to hold this position. Above any name there is always the team and that is the greatness of the club. This is the dream brooch to my career. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, ”he said then.
The news, which has caused a notable impact on Real Madrid and Spanish football, was received by the Real Madrid first team in Liverpool, where tonight they will face the German team Jurgen Klopp in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League.
The world of sports unites in the emotional goodbye to Amancio
“Only one other person has believed in me as much as you: my father,” said Míchel González, current coach of Greek Olympiacos and who was part of the champion Castilla led by Amancio Amaro, the club’s honorary president who died on Tuesday.
The president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Franco, recalled the figure of Amancio Amaro as “a myth and a legend of our sport”, after his death on Tuesday.
“A life dedicated to soccer. An unrepeatable winger, the ‘Wizard’, with an almost unmatched record. Rest in peace, Amancio Amaro. All our love to his family, relatives and to the entire Madrid family, ”Franco wrote on social networks.
FC Barcelona has also expressed its condolences for the loss of Amancio Amaro. “FC Barcelona regrets the loss of Amancio Amaro, honorary president of Real Madrid. The club would like to express its condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time. Rest in peace ”, reads the statement from the Barça club published on its social networks.
And Deportivo highlighted the “national and international recognition it had” and which it defined as “sportsmanlike and from A Coruña”.
The Association of Spanish Soccer Players (AFE) indicates that it is a “very sad day for the world of soccer” and for the organization itself. “We say goodbye to Amancio Amaro, one of the best footballers our country has produced, one of the greatest in history. Our condolences to family, friends, @RealMadrid and @RCDeportivo”.
The group of former internationals from the national team, LeyendasEspaña, also expresses its “deep condolences to the family and friends of Amancio Amaro, our #LeyendasEspaña 301, absolute international 42 times and European champion with @SEFutbol in 1964, who died at the age of 83. Farewell to one of the greats. D.E.P”.
