| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raúl Vicente Amarilla Vera | ||
| Date of birth | (1960-07-19)19 July 1960 (age 65) | ||
| Place of birth | Luque, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft2+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sportivo Luqueño | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1979 | Sportivo Luqueño | ||
| 1980–1985 | Zaragoza | 126 | (47) |
| 1980–1981 | →Racing Santander (loan) | 29 | (9) |
| 1985–1988 | Barcelona | 35 | (8) |
| 1988–1989 | Olimpia | ||
| 1989 | América | ||
| 1990–1993 | Olimpia | ||
| 1993–1994 | Yokohama Flügels | 26 | (15) |
| International career | |||
| 1982–1983 | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2007 | Paraguay | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Raúl Vicente Amarilla (born 19 July 1960) is a Paraguayan retired footballer who played as astriker. Born in Paraguay, he represented Spain internationally with the under-21 team.
Amarilla made his debut in his hometown team,Sportivo Luqueño at the age of 17. Because of his scoring ability and great heading skills (he was fairly tall, 6 feet 3 inches) he soon moved to Spain and signed forReal Zaragoza. Before making his debut with Real Zaragoza, he was loaned toRacing de Santander for the 1980/81 season.[1] Amarilla returned to Real Zaragoza where he gained success by leading the team in scoring in the 1982–83 season, finishing as the second best scorer inLa Liga. Because of his success in the Spanish League, Amarilla was asked to play for theSpain national under-21 football team. He accepted the offer and this is why later in his career he was not able to play for theParaguay national team. After several seasons withReal Zaragoza, Amarilla joinedFC Barcelona between 1985 and 1988.
Amarilla returned toParaguay in 1988 to play forClub Olimpia de Asunción. In 1989, while playing forOlimpia he was the top scorer in theCopa Libertadores of the same year with 10 goals. For the second half of 1989 he went on loan to theAmérica de Mexico football team. Despite playing for a brief period, he established himself as a fan favorite by scoring 21 goals and eventually was chosen as one of the top 100 players in Club America's history.[2][3]
He returned in 1990 to Paraguay to play again for Olimpia. In that year, he helped the team win theCopa Libertadores, theSupercopa andRecopa Sudamericana by forming the unforgettable feared attacking Olimpia trio along withGabriel González andAdriano Samaniego. To top his great performance in the year 1990, he was votedSouth American Footballer of the Year.[4]
After leaving Olimpia, he played 2 years in theJ.League withYokohama Flügels. On 1 January 1994, he scored twice in a 6-2 win overKashima Antlers in the final of theEmperor's Cup.[5]
At the age of 34, he returned to Paraguay and retired from professional football by playing again in Olimpia, where he is one of the most loved former players by the fans.
A few years after retiring from professional football, Amarilla began coaching small teams in the Paraguayan league such asClub Sportivo San Lorenzo andSportivo Luqueño where he achieved minor success. Afterwards, Amarilla was named the assistant coach ofAnibal Ruiz for theParaguay national team during the2006 FIFA World Cup qualification and the2006 World Cup. After Ruiz resigned from the Paraguay national team, Amarilla was named as the interim head coach by theParaguayan Football Association until the start of 2007, whereGerardo Martino was appointed as the new manager.[6] Amarilla currently works as the director of the youth divisions ofOlimpia.
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 1993 | Yokohama Flügels | J1 League | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 6 |
| 1994 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12 | ||
| Total | 26 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 18 | ||
| Preceded by | South American Footballer of the Year 1990 | Succeeded by |
Men's winners (Rey de América) | |
| El Mundo award | |
| El Gráfico award | |
| El País award |
|
Women's winners (Reina de América) | |
| El País award | |
