**Zach Lowy speaks to former Barcelona star Guillermo Amor about playing under Johan Cruyff and Louis van Gaal.**
Before he played in the biggest competition in sports, before he won the biggest trophy in all of European football, Guillermo Amor was just a kid from Benidorm with a dream of becoming a professional footballer. After watching Johan Cruyff guide the Netherlands to the verge of the World Cup in 1974, Amor was convinced: he wanted to play the beautiful game just as well as Cruyff’s Oranje did. It’s why he eventually joined FC Barcelona’s brand-new academy in January 1980, ascending the ranks at La Masia before finally breaking into the first team in 1988/89 under the watchful eye of Cruyff.
Amor would prove essential in Barcelona’s midfield as the ‘Dream Team’ put an end to Real Madrid’s domestic dynasty and claimed four straight league titles from 1991 to 1994 as well as a maiden Champions League title in 1992. And when Cruyff departed in 1996, Amor helped Barcelona bounce back under Sir Bobby Robson by winning the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and narrowly missing out on the league title by two points. The following season would see another Dutch manager – Louis van Gaal – take charge and lead them to the [LaLiga](https://bookmaker-ratings.ru/match/football/la-liga/) and Copa del Rey double. Having participated in the 1996 Euros, Amor played in all three off Spain’s matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, – in total Amor scored four goals in 37 Spain caps between 1990 and 1998.
After returning from France, Amor found himself deprived of opportunities under Van Gaal, prompting him to depart as the most trophy-laden player in club history. He spent two years at Fiorentina before joining newly promoted Villarreal and helping them establish themselves in LaLiga, followed by a swan song at Scottish side Livingston. Since retiring in 2003, he’s undergone four different management roles with FC Barcelona, in addition to a three-year spell as Technical Director and Head Coach of Adelaide United, where he led them totheir sole A-League Championship. Now 58, Amor spends his time in Barcelona, working with his oldest son (a licensed FIFA agent) in his consulting and player representation business, but he still finds time to head back to Benidorm and visit the Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor, the home of Club de Fútbol Benidorm and a number of Spain youth matches.
Football Oranje spoke to Amor about developing under Cruyff, falling out of favor under Van Gaal and plenty more in an exclusive interview:
_Just how special was it to be able to compete in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Spain? Where does that rank amongst your proudest moments?_
For me, playing in a World Cup is one of the most important things there is. I think for any professional who’s been involved with football since they were little, they always wanted to achieve that. I remember when I was very little, I had the World Cup sticker album, and I’d watch the national teams in the 1974 World Cup, I’d watch Johan Cruyff play for the Netherlands, and I always thought back then, ‘How I would love to play for my country’s national team.’ I think it’s a very important recognition, being among one of the 22 players chosen to represent your country for such a big competition. Whether it’s a European Championship or a World Cup, being on those lists is something I think everyone would like…that’s something that remains with you forever. It’s one of those things that I wouldn’t change for anything…it has an absolutely tremendous value for me.
_After plying your trade in LaLiga and Serie A, what was it like closing out your career in the Scottish Premiership?_
Look, I’ll tell you exactly how it went. The truth is, my contract at Villarreal was ending, and I was practically set to renew for another year. Then, life happens, things change, and in the end, I didn’t renew, and then I came back to vacation in Barcelona after the season and thought, ‘We’re not going to do nothing!’ At 34 years of age, I was left thinking, ‘Wow, maybe I could keep playing.’ The truth is, nothing came together quickly, because it was all very, very tight, I stayed in Barcelona to train, and then during the middle of the season, in January 2003, I was informed of the possibility to play for a team called Livingston and live in Edinburgh. I said, “You know, I really want to keep playing, I’m still feeling good, so I’m going for it.” It was just another experience in a really tough league, with an absolutely brutal freezing cold and lots of rain…every day, there were significant weather changes. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was a chance to live in a very beautiful city like Edinburgh and keep playing until May. During those months, there were presidential elections at Barcelona, things were happening. There was talk, and that’s when they got in touch and said, ‘If Joan Laporta wins, you might be able to rejoin the club.’ Fom there directly from Edinburgh, Scotland, practically the following season I started working in Barcelona again. That’s when I quit football, and I didn’t even realize it…I’ve said it a thousand times, but it hurt more to leave Barcelona than to retire. I was quitting football at 35, but I’m also going back to my lifelong club, the one I love, and I’m going to be better than ever.
_Lastly, you were able to witness one of the best moments of Barcelona’s history with Cruyff’s Dream Team, but you also saw the start of their descent into mediocrity at the turn of the century…what was that experience like?_
I left Barcelona in 1998, two years after Cruyff’s exit. It’s true that it didn’t completely catch me off guard: the last 1-2 years of Cruyff’s time were a little tougher in terms of results, in terms of a little bit of everything, and then I had one season with Bobby Robson, and another with Louis Van Gaal. From 1996 to 1998, those years, football-wise, were good in the sense that we won a title every year with both managers. Between 1998 and 2003, I was away from the club, as I went abroad for two years to Italy, before coming back to Spain with Villarreal, followed by a very short time in Scotland. And then when I finished in Scotland in 2003, I returned to Barcelona as they offered me a job in Youth Football. I was 35 years old, and it just so happened that I was almost finishing my football career because it was getting difficult to see one. There were elections at the club, and it was automatic. I was thinking, ‘I’ll leave Livingston and join a very modest team, and they offered me the job. I said, “Hey, I’m joining the club of my life to do what I love and do what I’ve always done, which is working with the youth teams, fantastic,’ and since then I’ve had a bunch of other new adventures with Barcelona.
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