Amílcar Barbuy

Amílcar Barbuy
	Amílcar Barbuy in 1920
Personal information
Full name	Amílcar Barbuy
Date of birth	29 March 1893
Place of birth	Rio das Pedras, Brazil
Date of death	24 August 1965 (aged 72)
Place of death	São Paulo, Brazil
Position(s)	Central Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1913–1922	Corinthians
1923–1930	Palestra Itália
1931–1932	Lazio
Total
National team
1916–1924	Brazil
Honours
Men's football
Representing Brazil
Copa América
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Amílcar Barbuy (29 March 1893 – 24 August 1965) was an Italian Brazilian^[1] football player and manager. A talented and well-rounded midfielder, he was known for his commanding presence, pinpoint tackling, ability to read the game, powerful kicks and great long passes and he was recognised one of the greatest players of Corinthians. Amílcar was a prolific forward who later became a midfielder, gifted with a powerful shot and a keen sense of goal.

Club career

Amílcar is of Italo-Brazilian descent. He has been involved with the club since the founding of Corinthians in 1910. He therefore played in the team that first played in the Campeonato Paulista in 1913 . Barely a year later, the club became champion for the first time. After the club was unable to participate in the competition in 1915 due to problems, they returned in 1916 and he became champion with the club again. Paulistano dominated the league for the next few years and the next titles did not come until 1922 and 1923.

In 1923 he transferred to Palestra Itália, today's Palmeiras. With this club he won the Campeonato Paulista in 1926 and 1927. In 1931 he moved to Italy to become a player-trainer for Lazio. He attracted many Brazilians to the club, including Matturio Fabbi, Armando Del Debbio and Wellington Rato, earning it the nickname Brasilazio. He was the first Brazilian to play for an Italian club.

International career

In 1916, he was the first player ever to be called up to the national team for Corinthians. He entered the South American Championship with Brazil. A year later, he was back again and scored the 4-0 in the game against Chile. In 1918 he even briefly trained the national team. In 1919 Brazil was able to triumph for the first time and won the trophy, Amílcar scored against arch-rival Argentina. After two lesser editions, the country was able to triumph again in 1922. He scored first in the match against Paraguay. The country first drew three times and in the fourth game he and teammate Neco scored a goal against Argentina, putting Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay in first place. Uruguay withdrew from the final battle as they protested the umpires who would favor Brazil. Brazil played the final against Paraguay and was able to win it and again become champions.

Coaching career

At the end of his playing career, Amílcar converted to coaching. His first experience was on the Lazio bench during the 1931–1932 season.

After the Italian adventure, he returned to his native country to coach teams of the caliber of Corinthians, São Paulo, Palestra Itália, Portuguesa, Portuguesa Santista and Atlético Mineiro.