Raúl Vicente Amarilla

Raúl Vicente Amarilla (born 1961, in Luque) is a former Paraguayan football striker.

Career as a player

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 played for Real Zaragoza, where Amarilla gained success by leading the team in scoring in the 1982/83 season, finishing as the second best scorer in La Liga. Because of his success in the Spanish League, Amarilla was asked to play for the Spain national under-21 football team. He accepted the offer and this is why later in his career he was not able to play for the Paraguay. After several seasons with Real Zaragoza, Amarilla joined Racing de Santander and ultimately FC Barcelona between 1985 and 1988.

Amarilla returned to Paraguay in 1988 to play for Club Olimpia de Asunción. In 1989, while playing for Olimpia he was the top scorer in the Copa Libertadores of the same year with 10 goals. For the second half of 1989 he went on loan to the popular América de Mexico football team. He returned in 1990 to Paraguay to play again for Olimpia. In that year, he helped the team win the Copa Libertadores, the Supercopa and Recopa Sudamericana by forming the unforgettable feared attacking Olimpia trio along with Gabriel González and Adriano Samaniego . In 1990 he was voted the South American Footballer of the Year. In 1993 he migrated to Japan and the next year, 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.

Resume

Titles

Spanish Champion: 1985 (with FC Barcelona)
Copa del Rey: 1987-88 (with FC Barcelona)
Paraguayan League champion: 1988, 1993 (with Olimpia)
Copa Libertadores de América: 1990 (with Olimpia)
Supercopa Sudamericana: 1990 (with Olimpia)
Recopa Sudamericana: 1990 (with Olimpia)

Awards

Paraguayan League topscorer in 1988
Copa Libertadores Topscorer in 1989
South American Footballer of the Year in 1990

Career as a coach

A few years aftern retiring from professional football, Amarilla began coaching small teams in the Paraguayan league such as Club Sportivo San Lorenzo and Sportivo Luqueño where he achieved minor success. Amarilla is currently part of the Paraguayan national team coaching staff.

External links