Guillermo Amor Martínez (Spanish pronunciation:[ɡiˈʎeɾmoaˈmoɾmaɾˈtineθ]; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a versatile midfielder.
After spending most of his career with Barcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it in Scotland with Livingston. Over 12 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 375 matches and 48 goals.
Amor represented Spain on 37 occasions, scoring four goals. His debut came in an UEFA Euro 1992qualifier 2–3 loss in Czechoslovakia on 14 November 1990, and he went on to appear for the nation at both the Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the former competition, on 18 June, he scored against Romania in a 2–1 win, netting in the 84th minute and helping the team to the quarter-finals in England.[9]
After retiring, Amor served a four-year spell at former club Barcelona, being responsible for the youth categories after Joan Laporta was named president in 2003. He left after the board of directors decided not to renew his contract,[11] but returned in July 2010 as technical director of football training.
In late August 2014, Amor was invited to Australia by one of his former colleagues and friend, former Barcelona youth academy coach and manager of Adelaide 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.[12]
On 24 July 2015, following the resignation of Gombau due to family reasons, Amor was appointed as head coach prior to the start of the season.[13] He only achieved his first win on the ninth matchday, in a 1–0 win against Perth Glory FC,[14] but went on to lead the team to a club-record 13 clean sheets, including being unbeaten in the last ten home games and winning the last four away.[15]
On 16 December 2007, Amor was involved in a serious traffic collision while travelling from Valencia.[19] Released from hospital after only a week, he later fully recovered.[20]
Amor's son, also called Guillermo (born 2001), played youth football in England with Leeds United.[21][22]
^Lozano Ferrer, Carles. "Spain – Cup 1990". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
^Domènech, Joan (29 June 1997). "Barça de titanes" [Titanic Barça]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
^Astruells, Andrés (30 April 1998). "La Copa más histórica" [The most historical Cup] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
^Astruells, Andrés (30 October 1991). "Cruyff ya tiene su cuarto título" [Cruyff already has his fourth title]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
^Aguilar, Francesc (31 August 1994). "El Barça paga un precio muy alto" [Barça pay a heavy price]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
^Serra, Josep María (29 August 1996). "Título con súper-susto" [Title with mega-scare]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2016.
