Peru

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	La Blanquirroja La Rojiblanca
Association	Federación Peruana de Fútbol
Confederation	CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach	José del Solar
Captain	Nolberto Solano
Most caps	Roberto Palacios (122)
Top scorer	Teófilo Cubillas (26)[1]
Home stadium	Estadio Nacional
FIFA code	PER
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	77
Highest	10 (September 1997)
Lowest	77 (March 2009)
First international
Peru 0 – 4 Uruguay  (Lima, Peru; November 1, 1927)
Biggest win
Peru 9 – 1 Ecuador  (Bogotá, Colombia; 11 August 1938)
Biggest defeat
Brazil 7 – 0 Peru (Santa Cruz, Bolivia; 26 June, 1997)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1930)
Best result	Quarterfinals, 1970
Copa América
Appearances	34 (first in 1927)
Best result	Winners, 1939 and 1975

The Peru national football team represents Peru in international football competitions, and is controlled by the Peruvian Football Federation. Created in 1927, the team competes with nine others in the South American CONMEBOL conference within FIFA. The majority of Peru's home matches are held at the national multi-use stadium, the Estadio Nacional, with friendly matches sometimes hosted at club stadiums.

Peru has qualified for four FIFA World Cups and two Olympic tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals of both tournaments, and has won the Copa América in two occasions. Peru's traditional rival is the football team of Chile,^[2] but the national squad has other prominent football rivalries such as the one with Ecuador.^[3] The traditional colors of the national team are red and white, and the nickname la Blanquirroja (Spanish for "the white-and-red") is generally used to refer to the team.^[4]

During the 1930s, featuring players such as Teodoro Fernández and Alejandro Villanueva, Peru participated in the first FIFA World Cup and the controversial 1936 Summer Olympics. Moreover, during this time the team won at the inaugural Bolivarian Games in 1938 and their first Copa América in 1939. In the 1950s, despite Peru lacking victory in any major international tournament, the team of Alberto Terry and Valeriano López was considered to be among the top 20 of the decade.^[5] Later, between 1970 and 1982 and with players such as Héctor Chumpitaz, Hugo Sotil, and Teófilo Cubillas, a golden generation of Peruvian footballers once more brought Peru into the view of the world, with many considering that a new football power had emerged.^[6][7] With this team, Peru qualified for three FIFA World Cups and won the Copa América in 1975. As of 2009, Peru has gained a series of poor results in the pitch that have led it on a fall down the rankings.

History

Introduction of football

Association Football was introduced in Peru by English sailors in the late 19th century during their frequent stops at the port of Callao, which at that point was considered one of the most important ports of the Pacific Ocean.^[8] During their free time, the English sailors played football and invited the local Chalacos (people from Callao) to participate. Allegedly, it was during these early games that the creation of the popular move known as the chalaca (short for "Chalacan Strike"), or bicycle kick, took place.^[9] Further promoting the growth of the sport, British residents of Peru and Peruvians returning from England began to increment the practice of football.^[10]

Soon, the sports rivalry that evolved between the foreigners and the Chalacos began to gain much attention from people elsewhere.^[10] Even though at first the sport was played without the formality of sports clubs, a few clubs were eventually created in order to continue its practice in the early 20th century.^[11][12] In the 1900s, due to the construction of the Panama Canal, the port of Callao was no longer flooded with the quantity of foreign sailors and travelers that had at one point made the port a point of much cultural diffusion.^[13] By this time more Peruvian cities had developed their own football clubs and leagues, the most important being those of Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa.^[14] However, the most important amateur league (the Peruvian Football League) stayed in the capital province, where a new football rivalry arose between the participating clubs of Lima and the clubs of Callao.^[15] The lack of a centralized organization often brought much conflict between the teams, and such a situation eventually escalated into a conflict that led to the creation of the Peruvian Football Federation in 1922 and a new Peruvian Football League tournament under the regulation of said organization in 1926.^[16]

Creation of national team

Even though the Peruvian Football Federation had joined CONMEBOL in 1925, internal and economic problems prevented the creation of a national team that would officially participate in their tournaments.^[17] An unofficial national team was created in 1922, and it played against a Uruguayan team sponsored by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.^[17] The time that followed saw the appearance of a group of talented Peruvian football players, and Peruvian clubs made a series of successful international tours due to the high demand of the skill of their players across South America in places such as Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile.^[18]

In 1927 a national football team was officially created for Peru.^[17] This team played in the South American Championship of 1927 that was held in Lima, and Peru would go on to reach third place after losing in their official debut to Uruguay (4–0), achieving their first victory against Bolivia (3–2), and losing to Argentina (1–5).^[19] Nevertheless, internal corruption and the commotion caused by the international crisis of the time caused the national team that played in Argentina in 1929 to be formed by favoritism rather than by actual skill.^[20] A year later, la Blanquirroja was invited by FIFA to participate in a new intercontinental competition to be held in Uruguay, the first World Cup.^[21]

1930s Golden generation

File:PeruOlympics1936.png

In the 1930 FIFA World Cup, although the Peruvian team was not able to get past the group stages, the general populace of Uruguay was surprised by the good performance of the Peruvians.^[22] By 1934, the skill of the Peruvian players attained popularity beyond South America's borders, and in March of that year the national squad (composed mainly of players from Universitario de Deportes, Alianza Lima, and Atletico Chalaco) united with the Chilean squad (formed mainly by players from Colo Colo) to form the Combinado del Pacifico. The Combinado would make a tour in the European countries of England, Germany, France, and Spain until August 1935, and Teodoro Fernandez became the team's top goal scorer with 48 goals in 39 games.^[23]

During the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Peru made a great start by defeating Finland with a margin of 7–3. Among the line of players featured in this parcipation of Peru were Alejandro Villanueva, Teodoro Fernández, Juan Valdivieso, and Adelfo Magallanes.^[24] Next, the Peruvians upset the pre-tournament favorites Austria, 4–2 after extra time. However, the International Olympic Committee controversially nullified the result and ordered a re-match, and the complete delegations of Peru and Colombia left Germany in protest.^[25][26] To this day it is not known with certainty what exactly happened at Germany, but some assert that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi authorities were involved.^[25]

In 1938, Peru's first international title would finally come during the first Bolivarian Games, which Peru won after winning all of their games against the football teams of Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.^[27] Afterwards, la Blanquirroja won Peru's first South American Championship (later known as Copa America) in 1939. Once again, the national squad lost none of its matches in their path to the final by defeating Ecuador, Chile, and Paraguay. The last game was played against Uruguay, and the Peruvians managed to beat the Uruguayans by a close score of 2–1.^[28] With this result, Peru became the fourth nation after Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil to win the famed South American tournament. Template:Peru Squad 1930s Golden Generation

Good football, few titles

Peru's early football years after the 1930s did not involve any other major accomplishments. In 1941, Peru and Argentina played a series of three games for the Copa Roque Saenz Peña in Lima, and a struggling Peru managed to draw twice before finally losing the third match 3–0.^[29] The national squad's slow change and bad situation was most obvious during the early South American Championships of the 1940s. By 1941, la Blanquirroja still had effective but old players like Teodoro Fernández in their lines.^[30] In 1947, the squad regained their title of champions at the Bolivarian Games.^[27] Nevertheless, Peru would not get close to achieving another international title until 1949, when Peru gained third after defeating Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay in the South American Championship held in Brazil.^[31]

By the 1950s, Peru once again found itself a major protagonist in South American football, considered to be among the top 20 of the decade.^[5] In the Pan-American Championship of 1952 the Peruvians defeated Panama and Mexico, tied Brazil, and lost to Chile and Uruguay by minimal differences.^[32] Players such as Alberto Terry, Guillermo Barbadillo, Valeriano López, Félix Castillo, and Óscar Gómez Sánchez brought in a competitive game to the Peruvian team of the 1950s. During 1953 and 1954, Peru achieved its only two titles of the 1950s thanks to the Copa del Pacifico after losing and winning two times against Chile.^[32] In the South American Championship of 1955, this national squad led a campaign that made them reach third place in Chile.^[33] Nonetheless, 1956 turned out as more of a slip for the team as they failed to win games in the Pan-American Championship held in Mexico and the South American Championship of Montevideo.^[32] The last years of the 1950s continued the good football of la Blanquirroja as they reached fourth place in the South American Championships of 1957 and 1959, and defeated England by a score of 4–1.^[34][35][32]

During the 1960s Peru began to slowly show signs of further improvement as the team won the Bolivarian Games of Barranquilla and qualified for the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome.^[27] Yet, these were the only achievements of this decade as Peru failed to place in the top four spots of the 1963 South American Championship, failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cups of Chile and England, and failed to regain the title of the Copa del Pacifico.

1970s Golden generation

File:PeruTeam1970.png

The story of this generation started in late 1969, when la Blanquirroja managed to qualify for the Mexico 1970 World Cup. Thanks to the goals of "Cachito" Ramírez, the squad managed what seemed impossible by tying Argentina at a game popularly known as "La Bombonera" (in reference to the Estadio Alberto J. Armando where the game was played).^[36] The squad managed by "Didi" Pereira followed a 4-2-4 formation and was generally composed of José Fernández, Orlando de la Torre, Héctor Chumpitaz, and Nicolás Fuentes as the defenders; Ramón Mifflin and Roberto Challe as the midfielders; Julio Baylón, Pedro Pablo León, Teófilo Cubillas, and Alberto Gallardo as the forwards; and Luis Rubiños as the goalkeeper.^[37]

The participation of Peru in the 1970 FIFA World Cup remains as one of the most memorable as the squad caused surprise as they advanced into the quarterfinals after defeating Bulgaria 3–2 and Morocco 3–0, and losing 3–1 to Germany.^[32] Although Peru lost the quarterfinal game to Brazil by 4–2, la Blanquirroja would go on to win the Copa del Pacifico, were invited to participate in the Brazil Independence Cup, and won the Copa Mariscal Sucre.^[32] Additionally, the squad would achieve South American glory as they achieved their second Copa America in 1975.^[38]

In 1978, la Blanquirroja once again qualified for a World Cup. The squad led by Marcos Calderón was somewhat different in structure from the early 70s with a 4-4-2 formation. Jaime Duarte, Héctor Chumpitaz, Rubén Díaz, and Germán Leguía were on the defense; César Cueto, Percy Rojas, Teófilo Cubillas, and José Velásquez on the midfield; Juan José Muñante, Juan Carlos Oblitas, Guillermo La Rosa, and Hugo Sotil on the attack; and Ramón Quiroga as the goalkeeper.^[39]

Prior to the World Cup, the national squad defeated varied opponents such as China and Hungary.^[32] Once into the World Cup finals, Peru reached the top of their group after defeating Scotland (3–1), tying with the Netherlands (0–0), and defeating Iran (4–1).^[39] However, once into the second round, Peru lost its earlier energy and ended last in the group after losing to Brazil (0–3), Poland (0–1), and to Argentina (0–6) in a controversial match that some claim was bought by Argentina's military junta.^[39][40] Afterwards, the squad would go on to play some international friendlies to prepare for the Copa America of 1979; they would tie Scotland at Glasgow (1–1) and defeat Uruguay in Lima (2–0). Nonetheless, by the time this new tournament started, Peru was eliminated by Chile. This great era in Peruvian football would end with a 1–0 loss against Mexico at Monterrey.^[32]

From glory to decline

The national team continued to occasionally shine in the 1980s. La Blanquirroja managed to successfully qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup at the expense of Colombia and Uruguay, the recent Mundialito winners.^[41] Under the direction of Elba de Padua Lima, the Peruvians won the Copa del Pacifico and led a European and African tour in which la Blanquirroja defeated Hungary (2–1), France (1–0), tied Algeria (1–1), and upon their return defeated Romania (2–0).^[32] Tim's squad was composed of a 4-4-2 formation with Jaime Duarte, Ruben Díaz, Salvador Salguero, and Jorge Olaechea in the defense; César Cueto, José Velásquez, Julio César Uribe, and Teófilo Cubillas on the midfield; Gerónimo Barbadillo and Juan Carlos Oblitas as the forwards; and Ramón Quiroga as the goalkeeper.^[42]

Once in the World Cup of Spain, the team did not perform well as they tied with Cameroon and Italy, and lost 5–1 against Poland.^[42] Afterwards, Peru would face a string of bad results, but nearly qualified to the 1986 FIFA World Cup.^[32] The Peruvians needed a victory against Argentina in order to directly qualify to the World Cup, but Diego Maradona pulled off a tie that led Peru to seek qualification through a play-off game against Chile. La Blanquirroja were defeated both at Chile and Peru, and that put an end to Peruvian aspirations for this tournament. From that point on until the 1990s, Peru's only major victory was that against India in the Nehru Cup.^[32]

The 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster further crushed the hopes for the team as a series of good players ready to play for Peru and the national team's coach Marcos Calderón (among others) died.^[43] The situation of Peru would not improve from that point as a series of ties and defeats came one after the other.^[32] Nevertheless, a change took sudden place in the late 1990s as Peru reached fourth place at the 1997 Copa America and nearly qualified to the 1998 World Cup, as they simply lost a chance to appear in the tournament due to a goal difference with Chile.^[44] Later, the team would win the Kirin Cup in 1999 and reached the quarterfinals of the Copa America of that same year.^[45] Players like Nolberto Solano, Andrés Mendoza, Flavio Maestri, Roberto Palacios, Claudio Pizarro, and José del Solar made somewhat of a positive difference during these years.^[45]

Present

The early 21st century brought with it the same Peruvian team of the late 90s. Peru was invited to compete in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the year 2000, and the team did surprisingly well to the point of reaching the semifinals of the North American competition.^[46] As the years kept going, Peruvian football once more started to give signs of vitality. Local teams from the league began doing rather well in international competitions, including Cienciano's 2004 conquest of the Copa Sudamericana and the Recopa Sudamericana.^[47] Even though Peru won another Kirin Cup in 2005, they were not able to get past the quarterfinals in three consecutive Copa America (2001, 2004, and 2007).^[32] Furthermore, the team was not able to qualify for the 2002 or the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Nonetheless, in 2007, the football fans of Peru received a great surprise as the national U-17 squad qualified and reached the quarterfinals (for their first time) of a FIFA World Cup. However, the regular Peruvian squad had a horrible season that left them at the bottom of the South American qualifiers at the end of the year 2008. If that were not enough, in November 2008 Peru's Federation, League, referees and officials, and national team were all suspended by FIFA due to the problems between the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) and the Peruvian Institute of Sport (IPD).^[48] Arturo Woodman, president of the IPD, and the Peruvian government had made the re-election of Manuel Burga (who was under investigation for charges of corruption) illegal, but the nation's football federation, with the backing of FIFA, re-appointed Burga as president of the federation.^[49] A month later, the battle between the IPD and the FPF was eventually solved when both sides agreed to discuss and solve the problem, and FIFA's suspension was lifted by its president Sepp Blatter.^[50] Yet, with young star players like Jefferson Farfán and José Paolo Guerrero, the possibilities for Peru keep expanding, and the team seeks to once more reach the best of the world in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Stadium

The Estadio Nacional, a 45,574-spectator stadium located in Lima, is the traditional home of the Peruvian team and the National Stadium of Peru.^[51] On July 18, 1897, the field was inaugurated and named Estadio Guadalupe. The Liga Peruana de Futbol (known as the FPF today) used it for the first football tournaments held in Lima. In 1921, under the embellecimiento (beautifying) process for Lima under the presidency of Augusto B. Leguía, the stadium was renovated and renamed the Estadio Nacional. Later, under the government of Manuel Odría, the stadium was reconstructed and officially re-inaugurated on October 27, 1952.^[52]

During the preparations for the U-17 championship, artificial turf was installed as a means of making the stadium look in better shape. Nonetheless, the artificial turf remained in the Estadio Nacional. In the year of 2005, Peru held the privilege of holding four of the eight "Star II" (the highest certification granted to artificial pitches in the world) artificial turf stadiums in the world.^[53] Even though the national stadium was one of the four Peruvian stadiums that received the "Star II" certification,^[54] it has received heavy criticism from clubs of the Primera División Peruana because of the alleged injuries it causes to players.^[55]

Alternate stadia

File:Monumental U Occidente.JPG

The national team, for a series of different reasons, has tended to use a variety of venues to play against its rivals. At times, using the high altitude of the Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega in Cusco or the Amazonic climate Estadio Max Augustín of Iquitos can prove to be a good strategy for the team.^[56] Also, using popular stadiums in Lima, like the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, can sometimes be an option for the team due to the supportive crowd.^[57] Recently, though, the more modern Estadio Monumental "U" has been selected to momentarily house the Peruvian football team due to the National Stadium's artificial turf.^[55]

The Estadio Monumental is a football stadium in Lima, Peru, which serves as home ground for the football club Universitario de Deportes. It was built throughout the 1990s, and officially opened in they year 2000. Currently, it is Peru's largest and most modern stadium, and the third largest stadium in South America behind the Maracanã in Brazil and the Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo in Ecuador.^[58] The stadium was built in accordance with FIFA’s manual of technical specifications for stadiums, and has a spectator-capacity of 80,093.^[58][59]

World Cup record

Year	Result	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	GF[32]	GA[32]
1930	Round 1	2	0	0	2	1	4
1934	Withdrew
1938–1950	Did not qualify
1954	Withdrew
1958–1966	Did not qualify
1970	Quarterfinals	4	2	0	2	9	9
1974	Did not qualify
1978	Round 2	6	2	1	3	7	12
1982	Round 1	3	0	2	1	2	6
1986–2006	Did not qualify
Totals		15	4	3	8	19	31

Qualifiers and participations

File:Monumental Sur Camiseta.JPG

Peru has played at four FIFA World Cup finals, the first in 1930 and the last in 1982.^[60]

In the 1930 la Blanquirroja lost both of its matches, although they allegedly played a dignifying match against Uruguay in the inauguration of the Estadio Centenario.^[61] During the match against Romania, Peru's Placido Galindo became the first player to be sent off during a World Cup.^[62]

In 1970, the team led by "Didi" Pereira beat Bulgaria 3–2 after trailing 0–2 by half-time,^[63] defeated over Morocco 3–0, lost to Germany 1–3, and were eliminated by Brazil 4–2 in the quarterfinal match.^[64][65] Later, the squad would go on to qualify for the 1978 cup held in Argentina, where they famously beat Scotland 3–1^[66][67] and infamously lost to Argentina in a game that is considered to have been set-up by the military junta that governed Argentina during those times.^[68] Peru qualified first in its group for its first time after drawing with the Netherlands at 0–0 and beating Iran 4–1.^[69][70] By the time the Spain 1982 World Cup came, the Peruvian squad was seen as a favorite, but Peru tied with Cameroon and Italy and were beaten by Poland with a score of 5–1.^[71]

Peru almost once again qualified to the World Cup in two occasions, in the 1986 qualifier and the 1998 qualifier. In 1986, the Argentina of Diego Maradona and Chile put a halt to Peruvian aspirations. In 1998, Peru lost a spot in the qualifiers by a goal difference with Chile. Currently, 27 years have passed since Peru entered a World Cup, and the squad is attempting to reach the best of the world in their campaign to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Template:Peru FIFA World Cup Squads

Copa América record

Copa America/South American Championship
Total: 2 Titles
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1916	Absence		1939	Winners		1967	Withdrew
1917	Absence		1941	Fourth Place		1975	Winners
1919	Absence		1942	Fifth place		1979	Semifinals
1920	Absence		1945	Withdrew		1983	Semifinals
1921	Absence		1946	Withdrew		1987	Round 1
1922	Absence		1947	Fifth Place		1989	Round 1
1923	Absence		1949	Third Place		1991	Round 1
1924	Absence		1953	Fifth Place		1993	Quarterfinals
1925	Absence		1955	Third Place		1995	Round 1
1926	Absence		1956	Sixth Place		1997	Fourth Place
1927	Third Place		1957	Fourth Place		1999	Quarterfinals
1929	Fourth Place		1959	Fourth Place		2001	Quarterfinals
1935	Third Place		1959	Withdrew		2004	Quarterfinals
1937	Sixth place		1963	Fifth place		2007	Quarterfinals

Participation history

File:Peru CopaAmerica 1975Champs.png

After joining CONMEBOL in 1925, Peru has hosted the Copa América six times and won it twice. Peru has had two top goalscorers for the tournament, Teodoro Fernández (7 goals, 1939) and Eduardo Malasquez (3 goals, 1983).^[72] The 1927 tournament was the first hosted by Peru, followed by the 1935, 1939, 1957 and the 2004 tournaments.

In 1939 Peru achieved its first Copa América title by defeating Ecuador 5–2, Chile 3–1, and Paraguay 3–0 in order to reach the final. With skilled players like Teodoro Fernández and Jorge Alcalde, Peru defeated Uruguay in the final by the close score of 2–1.^[73] With this result, Peru became the fourth nation, after Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina, to win the Copa América. In 1975, the Peruvians won the first Copa América held without a fixed venue. The team first had to make it out of the group stages by defeating Chile and Bolivia, and in the semi-finals defeated Brazil at the Mineirão by a score of 3–1 with the goals of Enrique Casaretto and Teófilo Cubillas. Next, a sorting had to be made in order to randomly choose Brazil or Peru to advance into the finals, and Peru won the spot.^[74] Once in the final, Peru faced Colombia. The squad lost its first game, but the two following games (the first played at Lima and the last match played at Caracas) were won by la Blanquirroja thanks to the goals of Juan Carlos Oblitas, Oswaldo Ramírez, and Hugo Sotil.^[74] Aside from these two victories, Peru's best place in the tournament have been four third places, two in 1927 and 1935 in Peru, one in 1949 in Brazil, and the last in 1955 in Chile.

When the tournaments once again began to be hosted by individual countries, Peru's best place was in 1997 when they gained fourth place after losing to Mexico for the third place match. In 2004, Peru once again hosted the tournament, but did not manage to get beyond the quarterfinals. This same story would repeat itself in 2007, and now the team looks on to the 2011 tournament to be held in Argentina. Template:Peru Copa América Champion Squads

Other tournaments and records

Peru national football team

Medal record
Bolivarian Games
	1938 Bogotá	NA
	1947-48 Lima	NA
	1951 Caracas	NA
	1961 Barranquilla	NA
	1973 Panama City	NA
	1977 La Paz	NA
	1981 Barquisimeto	NA
CONCACAF Gold Cup
	2000 Gold Cup	NA
Copa Centenario de Armenia
	1989 Armenia	NA
Kirin Cup
	1999 Japan	NA
	2005 Japan	NA
Marlboro Cup
	1989 New York	NA
Men’s Pre-Olympic Football
	1960 Peru	NA
	1964 Peru	NA
	1980 Colombia	NA
Nike United States Cup
	1997 U.S. Cup	NA

Aside from FIFA or CONMEBOL sponsored tournaments, the national football team of Peru has been invited to join a variety of different tournaments throughout the world. In 1938, Peru participated and won at the inaugural Bolivarian Games, and would win it four more times before the tournament was officially restricted to U-21 teams.^[75] Later, in 1986, Peru was invited to participate in its first Asian tournament, the Nehru Cup of India. In 1989, Peru participated in the Copa Centenario de Armenia 1989, which took place in the city of Armenia, Colombia, and the squad led by José Fernández reached a third place in the competition.^[76] That same year, Peru participated in the Marlboro Cup, and the team was able to get away with a second place.^[77] Eight years later, Peru was invited to join the 1997 U.S. Cup in which they started out beating the United States 1–0, lost to Denmark 1–2, and tied with Mexico (the eventual champions of the competition) 0–0.^[78]

In the year 2000, the team was invited to join the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament along with Colombia and South Korea.^[79] Positioned in Group B of the tournament, Peru had a bad start at the competition as they tied 1–1 with Haiti, and lost to the United States 1-0.^[79] Surprisingly, this was enough for Peru to advance and face Honduras, which had ended first in their group.^[79] Peru was able to win this quarterfinals match with a surprising 5–3 result.^[80] The final match of the team turned out disastrous as the Peruvian defenders made a series of mistakes, including an own goal, and the only goal of Peru against Colombia came thanks to Roberto Palacios; Colombia defeated Peru 2–1.^[81]

In 1999 and 2005, Peru was invited to join an event hosted in Japan known as the Kirin Cup. This event would become the third international tournament, after the Copa America and the Bolivarian Games, in which Peru would emerge victorious. In 1999, the Blanquirroja tied with Belgium 1–1, and tied with Japan 0–0; and thus achieved a shared first place with Belgium.^[82] In 2005, Peru started out in the tournament by defeating Japan 1–0, but would later get a 0–0 tie against the United Arab Emirates. Thus, Peru repeated the past tournament's result and shared first place with the United Arab Emirates.^[83]

Uniform

Peru's colors are red and white.^[84] The team's first football kit was made for the 1927 South American Championship, and it consisted of white shorts and a shirt with vertical stripes. The second football kit was made for the 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay, and was an all white kit with a red collar. The third kit was made for the 1935 South American Championship, with the only difference from its prior kit being a horizontal red stripe. Peru's current kit was made for the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, and it consists of a red stripe that crosses the chest diagonally from the left shoulder to the hip's right.^[4]

• 
  Peru's first football kit (1927)
• 
  Peru's second football kit (1930)
• 
  Peru's third football kit (1935)
• 
  Peru's fourth football kit (1936-Present)

Rivalries

Peru and Chile have a rivalry that dates back from the War of the Pacific. Territorial, maritime, and cultural disputes have fueled tensions since the ending of the war. Additionally, both nations dispute the origin of the football move known as the bicycle kick.^[85] This has led to a large football rivalry between both nations, and their games tend to be rough and competitive. Their games have gained the nickname of Clasico del Pacifico, meaning the "Derby of the Pacific," and a trophy named Copa del Pacifico is disputed whenever both national teams play.^[2][32] CNN considers this football rivalry to be among the top ten in the world.^[85]

Peru also holds a rivalry with Ecuador as a result of various border conflicts. However, although both national teams play highly competitive games in matches nicknamed as "The Pride Match," the rivalry tends to be greater from the Ecuadorian side.^[3]

Managers

File:Peru Coaches.png

Statistics provided by historian Jaime Pulgar Vidal and RSSSF.^[86][32]

Top 10 most successful

Name	Peru career	Played	Success %	Win %	Draw %	Lose %	# Titles
Jack Greenwell	1938-1939	8	100.00	100.00	0.00	0.00	2
Arturo Fernández	1948-1950	7	71.43	71.43	0.00	28.57	1
Juan Valdivieso	1954-1955	7	71.43	42.86	28.57	28.57	0
Juan Carlos Oblitas	1996-1999	38	65.78	42.10	23.68	34.21	0
Marcos Calderón	1975-1979	41	63.41	41.46	21.95	36.59	1
"Didi" Pereira	1969-1970	31	61.29	45.16	16.13	38.72	0
Roberto Scarone	1972-1973	18	61.11	50.00	11.11	38.89	1
Freddy Ternero	1997 Copa America 2005-2006	6 8	57.18	42.86	14.29	42.86	1
Alberto Denegri	1936-1937	7	57.14	42.86	14.28	42.86	0
György Orth	1957-1959	9	55.56	44.44	11.12	44.44	0
Totals		172	61.78	47.67	14.11	38.22	6

Managers with best winning record are selected, and the combined draw% and win% are calculated as success%.

Current manager

Name	Peru career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	# Titles
José "Chemo" del Solar	2007-present	19	3	6	10	15.79	0

Updated to game with Paraguay in 11-02-2009.

Players

• For additional players of the current World Cup squad, see also Peru at the FIFA World Cup.

Current squad

Head coach: Jose "Chemo" del Solar.

• Call-up for the World Cup Qualifier match against Chile.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	1GK	Leao Butrón	February 9, 1976	2	-3	Universidad San Martín |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	1GK	Raúl Fernández	July 26, 1989	0	0	Universitario |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Juan Vargas	October 21, 1982	10	2	Fiorentina |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Carlos Zambrano	July 10, 1989	6	1	FC Schalke 04 |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Alberto Rodríguez	September 23 1984	17	2	Sporting Braga |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Paolo de la Haza	May 20 1983	0	0	FC Chornomorets Odessa |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Walter Vílchez	May 30, 1982	0	0	Puebla F.C. |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Amilton Prado	March 20 1980	27	0	Sporting Cristal |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Nolberto Solano	December 12, 1974	45	6	Universitario |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Alexander Gustavo Sanchez Reyes	September 28, 1982	2	0	Alianza Lima |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	2DF	Rinaldo Cruzado	April 11 1988	0	0	Esteghlal F.C. |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Luis Trujillo	July 15 1990	0	0	Alianza Lima |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Junior Viza	July 15 1985	0	0	Beitar Jerusalem F.C. |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Miguel Cevasco	May 2 1986	2	1	Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Rainer Torres	September 21 1984	11	0	Universitario de Deportes |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Miguel Angel Torres	January 12 1982	0	0	Universitario de Deportes |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Luis Alberto Ramírez	November 10 1984	1	0	Libertad |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	3MF	Pedro García	March 14, 1974	2	1	Universidad San Martín |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	4FW	Daniel Chávez	January 8, 1988	5	0	Club Brugge |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	4FW	Hernán Rengifo	April 18, 1983	9	2	Lech Poznań |- class="nat-fs-player"	-	4FW	Johan Fano	August 9, 1978	0	0	Once Caldas

Notable players

File:Teofilo Cubillas.png

The Peruvian teams are often said to play with much technique and elegance, making them one of the finest exponents of South American football.^[88] Among the notable players of the team are center forwards Teodoro Fernández, Valeriano López, and Pedro Pablo León;^[89][88] second strikers like Alejandro Villanueva, Jorge Alcalde, and Hugo Sotil;^[89][90][88] wingers like Juan Carlos Oblitas, Juan Joya and Juan Seminario, among others.^[91][92][93] Recently, strikers such as Jefferson Farfán and Paolo Guerrero have attained international fame.^[89] Along with a good quantity of forwards, the Peruvian squad has also enjoyed a series of creative and effective midfielders such as Alberto Terry, Teófilo Cubillas, César Cueto, Roberto Challe and Julio César Uribe.^[89][88][94] Currently, Peru features midfielders such as Nolberto Solano, and Roberto Palacios.^[95] In the defense, the Blanquirroja has had players such as Héctor Chumpitaz, Julio Meléndez, and Peru's current star Juan Manuel Vargas.^[88][96][97] In terms of historic goalkeepers, the team's popular figures are Juan Valdivieso, José Soriano, and Ramón Quiroga.^[98][99][89]

Records

Roberto Palacios holds Peru's records for most appearances with the national team, having played 122 times between 1992 and 2007. Héctor Chumpitaz, with 105 appearances, and Jorge Soto, with 101 appearances, follow in second and third respectively. For goalkeepers, Oscar Ibañez holds the most appearances with 50 caps, followed by Miguel Miranda (47 caps) and Ramón Quiroga (40 caps).^[100]

Teófilo Cubillas holds the team's record of top goalscorer with 26 goals in 81 appearances. Teodoro Fernández is in second, but holds a better goal per appearance average with 24 goals in 32 appearances. Still active in the national team and in third place is Nolberto Solano, who has 20 goals in 89 appearances.^[100]

Hugo Sotil, Héctor Chumpitaz, and Teófilo Cubillas were the three players of the Peruvian football team that were part of the starting line-up of the America national football team that played against the Europe national football team in 1973 at the Nou Camp of FC Barcelona. Sotil scored America's second goal, and Chumpitaz scored the tying goal (4–4); America beat Europe 7-6 in the penalty rounds.^[101]

The largest margin of victory achieved by Peru is a 9–1 score against Ecuador in the inaugural Bolivarian Games. The team's record defeat took place in the 1997 Copa América, when Brazil defeated Peru by a score of 7–0.^[32]

Peru is the first team that received a FIFA Fair Play Trophy. The Peruvians received the award in the 1970 FIFA World Cup due to them being the only team that received no yellow or red cards in their games.^[102]

Fixtures

Memorable games

File:Peru Scotland.png

The Blanquirroja has had plenty of memorable matches throughout its history. Among the earliest is the 1936 game Austria v Peru, in which the Peruvians won by a score of 4–2 in a controversial match that to this day holds a mystery relating to what actually happened in said game.^[24] In FIFA World Cup qualifications, Peru's memorable games include the infamous 1–2 loss to Bolivia in 1969, which match referee Sergio Chechelev later admitted to having been paid by Argentina in order to give Bolivia the victory;^[103] and the 2–2 tie with Argentina in 1969 known popularly in Peru as La Bombonera.^[104]

Although Peru has had only four appearances to the FIFA World Cup, a series of their few games are remembered by fans. In the 1970 World Cup, the national squad overcame Bulgaria 3–2 after trailing 0–2,^[105] and lost to Brazil 4–2 in the quarterfinals match. For the 1978 World Cup, the game Scotland v Peru is famously remembered as the Peruvians overcame the Scottish squad by a score of 3–1,^[106] and the game Argentina v Peru is infamously remembered as a match which the Peruvians were allegedly paid to lose by the Argentinean junta with a score of 0–6.^[107]

Recent and future matches

Date	Venue	Opponents	Result	Score	Event
Feb 11, 2009	Estadio Alejandro Villanueva Lima, Peru	Paraguay	Lose	1 – 0	Friendly match
Mar 28, 2009	Estadio Monumental "U" Lima, Perú	Chile			2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
Apr 1, 2009	Estádio José Pinheiro Borba, Porto Alegre Brazil	Brazil			2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

External links

• Peru FA
• FIFA team profile
• All about Peru in FIFA World Cup (Spanish)
• All about Peru in Olimpic Games (Spanish)
• All about Peru in the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2000 (Spanish)
• All about the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2005 (Spanish)

Achievements
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	Bolivarian Champions 1938 (First title) 1947-48 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1951 Colombia
Preceded by 1937 Argentina	South American Champions 1939 (First title)	Succeeded by 1941 Argentina
Preceded by 1951 Colombia	Bolivarian Champions 1961 (Third title)	Succeeded by 1965 Ecuador
Preceded by 1970 Bolivia	Bolivarian Champions 1973 (Fourth title)	Succeeded by 1977 Bolivia
Preceded by Inaugural Champions	Mariscal Sucre Champions 1973 (First title)	Succeeded by 1973 Bolivia
Preceded by 1967 Uruguay	South American Champions 1975 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1979 Paraguay
Preceded by 1977 Bolivia	Bolivarian Champions 1981 (Fifth title)	Succeeded by U-20 Tournaments
Preceded by 1998 Japan	Kirin Cup Champions 1999 (First title)	Succeeded by 2000 Slovakia
Preceded by 2004 Japan	Kirin Cup Champions 2005 (Second title)	Succeeded by 2006 Scotland

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