 Amor withBarcelona in 1994 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Guillermo Amor Martínez[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1967-12-04)4 December 1967 (age 57)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Benidorm, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1979–1980 | Benidorm | ||
| 1980–1985 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1988 | Barcelona B | 49 | (10) |
| 1985–1986 | Barcelona C | 8 | (0) |
| 1988–1998 | Barcelona | 310 | (47) |
| 1998–2000 | Fiorentina | 24 | (0) |
| 2000–2002 | Villarreal | 64 | (1) |
| 2003 | Livingston | 3 | (0) |
| Total | 458 | (58) | |
| International career | |||
| 1986 | Spain U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 1989–1990 | Spain U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 1990–1998 | Spain | 37 | (4) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2015–2017 | Adelaide United | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Guillermo Amor Martínez (Spanish pronunciation:[ɡiˈʎeɾmoaˈmoɾmaɾˈtineθ]; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as a versatilemidfielder.
After spending most of his career withBarcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it in Scotland withLivingston. Over 12 seasons, he amassedLa Liga totals of 374 matches and 48 goals.
Amor won nearly 40caps forSpain during the 1990s, representing the nation in oneWorld Cup and oneEuropean Championship. After retiring, he worked as a manager in theA-League withAdelaide United, leading the club to adouble in the first of his two seasons in charge.
Born inBenidorm,Alicante,Valencian Community,[2] Amor was a product ofFC Barcelona's youth academy, and made his first-team debut in the1988–89 season underJohan Cruyff, going on to become one of theCatalan team's most influential players as they achieved four consecutiveLa Liga titles and the1991–92 European Cup (he did not play inthe final againstUC Sampdoria, however, after beingbooked in the last group stage match withS.L. Benfica).[3] In1993–94, as the club conquered the last of a successive four leagues, he appeared in all games except one, scoring a career-best eight goals. Additionally, on 5 April 1990, he opened the scoring in theCopa del Rey final againstReal Madrid, helping to a2–0 win at theMestalla Stadium.[4]
Amor leftBarça at the end of the1997–98 campaign, with another national championship won, deemed surplus to requirements by new managerLouis van Gaal as longtime teammateAlbert Ferrer,[5] having played 421 matches overall only behind club greatsXavi,Migueli andCarles Rexach.[6] He subsequently had his first abroad experience, appearing sparingly forSerie A sideACF Fiorentina[7] over two years and then returning to Spain withVillarreal CF as the latter had justreturned to the top division.[8]
Amor retired from football after a short spell with Scotland'sLivingston, for which he signed in January 2003,[9] making his debut on the 28th in a 3–1 away victory overPartick Thistle.[10] TheLivi Lions eventuallynarrowly avoided relegation from thePremier League.
Amor representedSpain on 37 occasions, scoring four goals. His debut came in anUEFA Euro 1992qualifier 2–3 loss inCzechoslovakia on 14 November 1990, and he went on to appear for the nation at both theEuro 1996 and the1998 FIFA World Cup. In the former competition, on 18 June, he scored againstRomania in a 2–1 win, netting in the 84th minute and helping the team to the quarter-finals in England.[11]
Amor's lastcap was a sour one, as Spain were downed by lowlyCyprus on 5 September 1998 in aEuro 2000 qualifier (3–2).[12]
After retiring, Amor served a four-year spell at former club Barcelona, being responsible for the youth categories afterJoan Laporta was named president in 2003. He left after the board of directors decided not to renew his contract,[13] but returned in July 2010 as technical director of football training.[14]
In late August 2014, Amor was invited to Australia by one of his former colleagues and friend, former Barcelona youth academy coach and manager ofAdelaide United FC,Josep Gombau. He spent a month observing and consulting the latter with Adelaide's training, after which he signed a one-year contract to become the technical director.[15]
On 24 July 2015, following the resignation of Gombau due to family reasons, Amor was appointed as head coach prior to the start ofthe season.[16] He only achieved his first win on the ninth matchday, in a 1–0 win againstPerth Glory FC,[17] but went on to lead the team to a club-record 13clean sheets, including being unbeaten in the last ten home games and winning the last four away.[18]
Amor led Adelaide tothe double on 1 May 2016, after a 3–1 defeat ofWestern Sydney Wanderers FC in theGrand Final.[19] On 10 May of the following year he left theHindmarsh Stadium,[20] returning to Barcelona as head of youth football alongside former teammateJosé Mari Bakero.[21]
On 16 December 2007, Amor was involved in a serious traffic collision while travelling fromValencia.[22] Released from hospital after only a week, he later fully recovered.[23]
Amor's son, also called Guillermo (born 2001), played youth football in England withLeeds United.[24][25]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental | Total | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barcelona B | 1984–85[26] | Segunda División | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 1986–87[26] | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | |||||
| 1987–88[26] | 38 | 8 | 5 | 4 | – | – | 43 | 12 | ||||
| 1988–89[26] | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | 7 | 2 | |||||
| Total | 49 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 14 | ||
| Barcelona C | 1985–86[26] | Segunda División B | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| Barcelona | 1988–89[26] | La Liga | 27 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | – | 38 | 13 | |
| 1989–90[26] | 33 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1[b] | 1 | 42 | 8 | ||
| 1990–91[26] | 34 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2[c] | 0 | 45 | 7 | ||
| 1991–92[26] | 36 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2[c] | 1 | 43 | 8 | ||
| 1992–93[26] | 33 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5[d] | 0 | 47 | 6 | ||
| 1993–94[26] | 37 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2[c] | 0 | 53 | 11 | ||
| 1994–95[26] | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2[c] | 1 | 43 | 6 | ||
| 1995–96[26] | 28 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 1 | – | 40 | 9 | |||
| 1996–97[26] | 26 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98[26] | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
| Total | 310 | 47 | 36 | 8 | 56 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 421 | 68 | ||
| Fiorentina | 1998–99[1] | Serie A | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 1999–2000[1] | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Total | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||||||
| Villarreal | 2000–01[26] | La Liga | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02[26] | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 64 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 1 | ||
| Livingston | 2002–03[27] | Scottish Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |
| Career total | 458 | 58 | 46 | 12 | 61 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 584 | 83 | ||
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 December 1990 | Sánchez Pizjuán,Seville, Spain |  Albania | 1–0 | 9–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 2 | 18 June 1996 | Elland Road,Leeds, England |  Romania | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 1996 |
| 3 | 13 November 1996 | Heliodoro Rodríguez,Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain |  Slovakia | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 24 September 1997 | Tehelné pole,Bratislava, Slovakia | Slovakia | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Barcelona
Adelaide United
Individual
| Team | From | To | Record[42] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Adelaide United | 24 July 2015 | 10 May 2017 | 67 | 24 | 17 | 26 | 035.82 |
| Total | 67 | 24 | 17 | 26 | 035.82 | ||
Spain squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
