Peru

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	La Blanquirroja (the white and red one)
Association	Federación Peruana de Fútbol
Confederation	CONMEBOL (South America)
Head coach	José del Solar
Captain	Claudio Pizarro
Most caps	Roberto Palacios (117)
Top scorer	Teófilo Cubillas (26)
Home stadium	Estadio Nacional de Lima
FIFA code	PER
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	50
Highest	34 (September 1997)
Lowest	86 (February 2003)
First international
Peru 0 - 4 Uruguay  (Lima, Peru; November 1, 1927)
Biggest win
Peru 9 - 0 Bolivia  (Lima, Peru; 6 November 1927)
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	27 (first in 1927)
Best result	Winners, 1939 and 1975

Olympic medal record
Men’s Pre-Olympic Football
	1960 Peru	NA
	1964 Peru	NA
	1980 Colombia	NA

The Peru national football team is the national football team of Peru. The team competes with the other nine nations in the CONMEBOL conference within the FIFA. It is managed by the FPF, the governing body of Peruvian football.

Peru has had great moments in the history of this sport ever since the 1930s. During this time they participated in the first FIFA World Cup, the controversial 1936 Summer Olympics, and won their first Copa América in 1939.

Later, between 1970 and 1982, a Golden Generation of Peruvian footballers once more brought Peru into the view of the world. Teofilo Cubillas was the star of the side (scoring five goals in two different finals), and his attacking flair and skill became synonymous for the world with Peru's football team in the 1970s. The team then qualified for three out of four FIFA World Cups and won the Copa América in 1975.

Nowadays, Peru is still considered one of the best teams in the world (Usually around the 50th spot in FIFA Rankings). The country has kept producing various modern star-players like Jefferson Farfan, Nolberto Solano, Claudio Pizarro, and Jose Paolo Guerrero.

Six straight qualification failures, however, have since plagued the once proud side.

History

Football began to be practiced in Peru in the final part of the XIX century, brought by sailors--English for the most part--that made rest at the port of Callao. Afterwards, in Lima, clubs and teams began to be formed for the practice of the sport. The competition by that time was completely internal and every part of the country had its own league and its own teams, with the leagues of Cusco and Arequipa (Along with some from the North and Center) being the major ones. Allegedly, the first games were quite emotional due to the rivalry between the native criollos and foreigners. Later, new important rivalries would arise between the Limeans and the Chalacos (people from Callao). It is exactly those games that immortalized (In Peru) the move known as "chalaca."

Football kept developing in Peru as the sport quickly adjusted to the people. Soon enough this growth in the sport led to Peru's invitation to participate in the first FIFA World Cup at Uruguay. The Peruvian team's first match gave the World Cup its first player dismissed, Plácido Galindo. Peru was able to tie Romania's early lead, but was not able to sustain due to the one-man advantage Romania had. Later, against the match against Uruguay, Peru played a formidable game but lost 1-0 against the hosts (Whom were later to beat Romania 4-0 and win the World Cup Final against Argentina).

Further improving its game, Peru won their first Copa America. The early years of Peru's football history went quite well, and the team itself was able to build its game due to the increasing competition CONMEBOL has always been known for.

La Blanquirroja in the FIFA World Cup

After making their FIFA World Cup debut at Uruguay 1930, Peru next made an impact on the finals at Mexico 1970 where they beat Bulgaria and Morocco to start off the tournament with a surprising bang. The Brazil of Rivelino, Tostao, Jairzinho and Pelé put an end to that adventure 4-2 in the quarter-finals. The World cup of Argentina 1978 saw Peru end up first in their group during the first phase of the tournament, but they were later eliminated after losing all their games in the second phase. Their last World Cup appearance was in that of Spain 1982, a tournament in which Peru was viewed as a favorite. Yet, the problem came when the team basically trained too much and were tired even before the tournament had begun. They were eliminated last in their group, with 2 ties and 1 loss.

Qualifiers and Participations

1930 FIFA World Cup

In Uruguay 1930, Peru was part of group C and lost both games they played, 1:0 against Uruguay and 3:1 against Romania. As an anecdote, the game Peru played against Uruguay inaugurated the historic Estadio Centenario of Montevideo. Among the important figures of notable mention composing the Peruvian team were the goalie Juan Valdivieso, the defense Mario de Las Casas, whom would later found the club Universitario de Deportes and the forward and idol of Alianza Lima, Alejandro Villanueva.

1970 FIFA World Cup

The tale to Mexico 1970 begins from the qualification game played against Argentina in their "mythical" stadium of "La Bombonera." Previously, Peru had beaten Argentina and Bolivia in Lima. At La Paz, Bolivia beat Peru. Thus, Peru only needed a tie to qualify for the World Cup. Peru played one of their best games that day, and were capable to tie the game 2:2 and qualified for the World Cup to be played at Mexico.

Those who stood out in this team were Roberto Challe, Alberto Gallardo, Orlando De la Torre, Teófilo Cubillas, Pedro "Perico" Leon, Nicolás Fuentes, and the idol that would be known as the "Captain of America," Héctor Chumpitaz. Afterwards, for the World Cup, the "Cholo" Hugo Sotil joined the team.

Peru entered the tournament in Group 4, and played against Bulgaria (3:2 victory), Morocco (3:0 victory), and Germany (3:1 loss). In the match against Bulgaria, the "Nene" Cubillas marked his first goal. Right now, he is the 6th greatest goal scorer of the World Cups at 10 marks in 3 participations.

Once in the quarterfinals, Peru faced the Brazil of Pele (Whom would go on to win the cup) and lost 4:2 in a game qualified as one of the best football games in history. Current president of the FIFA, Joseph Blatter, considers it the best. Peru's historic head coach was the Brazilian Valdir Pereira, whom greatly lamented playing against his own country but certainly put up a great fight.

As an anecdote to this World Cup, Peru had faced one of their worst earthquakes in history while the team was in Mexico. Several people died, and one whole city was wiped from the face of the earth. Due to this, the team was quite saddened and showed a deplorable first-half against Bulgaria (Losing 2 to nothing). The tale goes on to say that someone uttered: "With this game they're killing those who survived the earthquake back in Peru." True or false, Peru was capable to turn the game back around and beat Bulgaria.^[1]

1978 FIFA World Cup

The Argentina 1978 finals also saw Peru finish first in its opening group, as they managed to beat Scotland and Iran, then drew with the eventual finalist, the Netherlands.

Once into the second round in 1978 - a second group stage - they did not live up to their promise, falling rather dismally to Brazil, Poland, and Argentina without scoring a goal.

1982 FIFA World Cup

By Spain 1982 the team's performance declined as the team fell at the opening hurdle, drawing with Cameroon and Italy before getting crushed by Poland 5-1. Previously, though, Peru was viewed as a favorite and a good candidate to advance into the next phase.

The problem was that Peru had previously been doing several practice matches, all of which re-assured to the public that Peru would do well in the World Cup. Yet, Peru trained too much and by the time the World Cup begun, the team was completely exhausted.

1986 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Peru almost qualified to Mexico 1986 once more eliminating Argentina. Yet, for this qualifier game, they were to face the Argentina of Maradona. At first, Peru was achieving a victory at Buenos Aires, but Diego Armando Maradona was able to tie the game and qualify Argentina into the World Cup they would later win.

Peru was thus forced to face Chile for elimination, and they lost 4-2 on Santiago and 1-0 on Lima. This was to be Peru's last closest chance of qualifying until 1998.

1990 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Peru was grouped for the qualification along with Bolivia and Uruguay. Every single game was lost, and only two goals were scored (One by Jose del Solar and the other by Andres Gonzales). Julio Cesar Uribe was considered one of the best players of the team at that moment.

1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

The campaign to reach France 1998 was thwarted only by the goal difference tiebreaker, as they finished even on points with Chile. The qualifying system had changed and now all teams were to face each other, and Peru had been able to maintain the 4th spot until the next-to-last match when they faced Chile at Santiago. The game was quite humiliating, specially due to the aggressions the Peruvian team faced from the Chileans. As far as it currently goes, this is currently Peru's last closest chance to qualifying.

2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

The preliminaries for Korea/Japan 2002 were certainly not any respite from that, as the team finished eighth in the group with just four wins in eighteen matches. The fact that they only managed to score 14 goals demonstrated how far the attack had fallen since the days of Cubillas. Particularly low points of the qualifying tournament included a 3-0 loss at Venezuela and defeats in over half of their home matches to Uruguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil.

2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

During the years of 2004 and 2005, Peru participated in the qualifier for the Germany 2006 World Cup. Peru this time hit the ground hard as conflicts with the team's management soon showed poor results in the games that were to follow. Paulo Autuori managed the squad, but was not able to achieve popularity due to a disastrous campaign that led Peru into 8th place just above Bolivia and Venezuela. Freddy Ternero also momentarily managed the squad, but was dismissed due to problems with the FPF.

World Cup record

File:Peru30t.jpg

Year	Round	Year	Round
1930	Round 1	1974	Didn't Qualify
1934	Withdrew	1978	Round 2
1938	Did Not Enter	1982	Round 1
1950	Withdrew	1986	Didn't Qualify
1954	Withdrew	1990	Didn't Qualify
1958	Didn't Qualify	1994	Didn't Qualify
1962	Didn't Qualify	1998	Didn't Qualify
1966	Didn't Qualify	2002	Didn't Qualify
1970	Quarterfinals	2006	Didn't Qualify
Total	4/18

Copa América

Peru 1939

This was the first international title the team won. During this time, the team had greatly improved since the World Cup and was re-assuring that dominance they had shown over Austria in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Peru won all 4 games which were against Ecuador (5:2), Chile (3:1), Paraguay (2:1), and Uruguay (2:1) in the final. It's worth the mention that in this tournament Argentina and Brazil did not participate, but that does not take down the merit of Peru's notable act. Peruvian Teodoro Fernández also was the top goal-scorer of the tournament. As an anecdote, Peru was the fourth South American team that raised the trophy (The first three being Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil).^[2]

Brazil 1949

By this time, Peruvian football was recognized by good game and playful management of the ball. Several interesting players came to the national team, but the team faced several problems with the directors and the players themselves. Peru won all but two games. As such, the national team got third place. Paraguay and Brazil, the only ones who beat Peru, had to later play a last tie-breaker match.

Chile 1953

As much as Peru did, the team was not capable to achieve another Copa America title until later years. Yet, the games played at Santiago in Chile are memorable to Peruvian football history because it was the first time Peru was able to beat Brazil (A certain something not many have been able to achieve). The goal was scored by Navarrete. ^[3]

Copa América 1975

This tournament had no fixed venue. For the first phase, Peru was grouped with Chile and Bolivia. After winning both games, which were played both at home and away, Peru qualified for the semifinals along with Colombia, Brazil, and Uruguay (Which were the defending champions). Perhaps unlucky for Peru, they had to face Brazil for their semifinal. At the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, Peru beat the Verdeamarela by a margin of 3 to 1 with two goals from Enrique Cassareto and one by Teófilo Cubillas. The game played back home at Lima was won by Brazil 2-0. Due to the goal difference, the winner (Which turned out being Peru) was chosen by sorting.

The final match was played against Colombia, whom had beaten Uruguay. The game played at Bogotá was won by the Colombians 1 to 0. The game played at Lima was won by the Peruvians 2 to 0. Even though this meant Peru should win by the goal difference, a last game was played at the city of Caracas. With a goal at the 25th minute of the game by Hugo Sotil, Peru obtained its second international title.^[4]

Bolivia 1997

The team was able to reach the quarterfinals of this cup and eliminated Argentina (2:1) to advanced into the semifinals. In the semifinals, Peru faced Brazil, and lost by a margin of 7 to 0 (Peru's worst result to date). For the third place spot, Peru faced Mexico. The game was won by Mexico by a goal scored at the 82nd minute of the game.

Peru 2004

The 2004 Copa América, which they hosted, saw the team lose in the quarter-finals against Argentina. This began a wave of criticism against Peru's then coach Paulo Autuori, who boycotted the media, and his squad. ^[5]

Venezuela 2007

Peru's campaign in the 2007 Copa América saw another futile attempt of the Peruvian squad, eliminated again in the quarter-finals by Argentina; the blame for this was mainly given to the tactics and formations of the coach Julio César Uribe, who did not call the appropriate players to the national team. After this situation, Peru replaced Uribe for Jose del Solar.^[6]

Copa América record

Copa America/South American Championship
Total: 2 Titles
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1916	No Participation		1939	Winners		1967	Withdrew
1917	No Participation		1941	Fourth Place		1975	Winners
1919	No Participation		1942	Fifth place		1979	Semifinals
1920	No Participation		1945	Withdrew		1983	Semifinals
1921	No Participation		1946	Withdrew		1987	Round 1
1922	No Participation		1947	Fifth Place		1989	Round 1
1923	No Participation		1949	Third Place		1991	Round 1
1924	No Participation		1953	Fifth Place		1993	Quarterfinals
1925	No Participation		1955	Third Place		1995	Round 1
1926	No Participation		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

La Blanquirroja in other tournaments

Peru has participated in various international tournaments. Generally the team gives a descent show and in some occasions has even been able to win some of them.

• Perú has qualified to the Olympic Games 2 times.

• Perú has been invited to the CONCACAF Gold Cup once in 2000, reaching 3rd place.

• Perú has participated in the US Cup (1997), Copa Armenia (1989), and Nahser Cup (1986).

• Perú has disputed 2 Kirin Cups, en 1999 y 2005, winning in both occasions.

1936 Berlin Olympics

In 1936, the Peruvian team was invited to join the Olympics to be played at Berlin. Peru accepted the invitation and the team set-off for Berlin with high expectations. Previously, Peru had withdrawn from the 1934 FIFA World Cup, but this time Peru wanted to show what they were capable of doing.

The first match against Finland was won with great commodity by the Peruvians (A 7:3 result). Peru's next match came against Austria in the quarterfinals, a game Adolf Hitler (An Austrian himself) was highly interested in. To the surprise of many, Peru was able to defy all odds and beat Austria (A 4:2 result). This result left Hitler with much problems, especially since the Peruvian team was mainly composed of black players while the Austrian team played with a white Arian squad. Austria, with support from Hitler, thus was able to gain teh chance for a repetition of the game to be once more played.

It is commonly said that one of the arguments used was that of the ball being too big and the goal too small; also that the field was too small for competition and that the Peruvian fans had stormed the field after the fourth goal. It is because of this insulting situation that Peru figured it was best to simply leave the tournament (Austria went on to win the Silver Medal), and all the Peruvian Olympic teams left Berlin in protest to what Germany was doing.^[7]

Famous players

Héctor Chumpitaz Teófilo Cubillas Jefferson Farfán José Paolo Guerrero Roberto Palacios Claudio Pizarro Nolberto Solano Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez Alberto Terry Roberto Challe Hugo Sotil Cesar Cueto

Juan Jose Jayo Jorge Soto Juan Reynoso José "Puma" Carranza Flavio Maestri Germán Carty Roberto Martínez Tudela Franco Navarro Julio César Uribe Eugenio la Rosa Gerónimo Barbadillo Juan Carlos Oblitas

Ramon "El Loco" Quiroga Juan "El Mago" Valdivieso Alejandro Villanueva Alberto Gallardo Nicolas Fuentes Ramon Mifflin Pedro "Perico" Leon Julio Baylon Victor Calatayud Oswaldo "Cachito" Ramirez José "Chemo" del Solar Juan Manuel Vargas

• Juan Carlos Mariño

Current Squad

Head coach: José del Solar

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Leao Butrón	March 6, 1977			San Martín
2	2DF	Miguel Villalta	16 June, 1981			Sporting Cristal
3	2DF	Santiago Acasiete	22 November, 1977			UD Almería
4	2DF	Walter Vílchez	20 February, 1983			CF Puebla
5	2DF	Alberto Rodriguez	31 March 1984			S.C. Braga
6	2DF	Jhoel Herrera	9 July, 1980			GKS Belchatow
7	3MF	Jair Cespedes				Sport Boys
8	3MF	Juan Carlos Bazalar	23 February, 1968			Cienciano
9	4FW	José Paolo Guerrero	1 January 1984			Hamburg
10	3MF	Juan Carlos Mariño	2 January, 1982			Hercules CF
11	4FW	Ysrael Zúñiga	27 August, 1976			Melgar
12	1GK	George Forsyth	20 June, 1982			Atalanta B.C.
13	2DF	Paolo de la Haza	November 30, 1983			Chornomorets Odesa
14	4FW	Claudio Pizarro	October 3, 1978			Chelsea F.C.
15	3MF	Edgar Villamarín	April 1, 1983			Cienciano
16	4FW	Andrés Augusto Mendoza	26 April, 1978			Metalurh Donetsk
17	4FW	Jefferson Farfán	20 October, 1984			PSV Eindhoven
18	3MF	Pedro García	14 March, 1974			San Martín
19	3MF	Damián Ísmodes	10 March, 1989			Sporting Cristal
20	4FW	Roberto Jimenez	26 April, 1983			Club Atlético Lanús
21	1GK	Juan Flores				Cienciano
22	2DF	John Galliquio	1 December, 1979			Universitario

Other players

Goalkeepers

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Joel Pinto				Alianza Lima
	1GK	Diego Penny				Bolognesi
	1GK	Jose Carvallo				Universitario

Defenders

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	2DF	Amilton Prado	6 May, 1979			Sporting Cristal
	2DF	Manuel Corrales				FC Metz
	2DF	Luis Hernandez				Sporting Cristal
	2DF	Luis Guadalupe				Veria FC
	2DF	Martín Hidalgo				Gremio Porto Alegre

Midfielders

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	3MF	Rinaldo Cruzado				FC Grasshoppers
	3MF	Rainer Torres				Sporting Cristal
	3MF	Jose Mendoza				Veria FC
	3MF	Miguel Cevasco				Universitario
	3MF	Juan Vargas				Calcio Catania
	3MF	Nolberto Solano				Newcastle United
	3MF	Henry Quinteros				Lech Poznan
	3MF	Roberto Merino				Atromitos
	3MF	Alexander Sanchez				GKS Belchatow

Strikers

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	4FW	Wilmer Aguirre				FC Metz
	4FW	Miguel Mostto				Barnsley FC
	4FW	Jair Baylon				Sporting Braga
	4FW	Hernan Rengifo				Lech Poznan
	4FW	Daniel Chavez				Club Brugge
	4FW	Piero Alva				Skoda Xanthi
	4FW	Juan Diego Gonzales Vigil				Universitario

Players Recently Retired from the Team

• Jorge Soto
  
• Juan Jayo
  
• Oscar Ibañez
  
• Miguel Rebosio

Managers

• Jack Greenwell, 1939
• Valdir "Didi" Pereira, World Cup 1970
• Marcos Calderón, World Cup 1978
• "Tim" Elba de Padua Lima, World Cup 1982
• Roberto Challe, World Cup 1986 Qualifier
• Miguel Company (1990 – 1991, 1994 – 1995)
• Vladimir Popović (1991 – 1993)
• Juan Carlos Oblitas (1995 – 1999)
• Francisco Maturana (1999 – 2000)
• Julio César Uribe (2000 – 2002)
• Paulo Autuori (2002 – 2005)
• Freddy Ternero (2005 – 2006)
• Franco Navarro (2006)
• Julio César Uribe (2007)
• José Guillermo del Solar (2007-Present)

Kit Evolution

The Peruvian team has officially used 4 official kits, but it also has had several alternatives.

Official First Kits

• The first uniform was that of the red stripes, white shorts, and white socks. This model was only used in the Copa América 1927 and was left aside due to its similarity with the kit of Paraguay.
• The second uniform was that of the white shirt with red collar, white shorts, and red socks. Peru used this model when the team participated in the 1930 World Cup and in the Copa América 1939 that they won.
• The third uniform was composed of a white shirt with a horizontal red stripe that crossed the chest from left to right. The shorts and socks were white.
• The fourth and current uniform is composed of a white shirt with a diagonal red stripe that crosses the chest from the left shoulder to the right side of the hip. The shorts and socks are white (Although red socks are also being used lately).

1927-1929

1930-1939

1940-1969

Current

Lately

Alternative Kits

• The first uniform was used during the 1970s as an alternative, and in the World Cup of that year.
• The second uniform is currently used as the official alternative kit.
• The third uniform was an alternative used in the Copa America 2007 match against Venezuela.

1970

Current

2007

List of Recent International Matches

Date	Venue	Opponents	Result	Score	Type
June 3, 2007	Vicente Calderon Stadium Madrid, Spain	Ecuador	W	2 - 1	Friendly match
June 6, 2007	Mini Estadi Barcelona, Spain	Ecuador	L	2 - 0	Friendly match
June 26, 2007	Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida Mérida, Venezuela	Uruguay	W	3 - 0	Copa América 2007
June 30, 2007	Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo San Cristóbal, Venezuela	Venezuela	L	0 - 2	Copa América 2007
July 3, 2007	Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida Mérida, Venezuela	Bolivia	D	2 - 2	Copa América 2007
July 8, 2007	Estadio Metropolitano de Fútbol de Lara Barquisimeto, Venezuela	Argentina	L	4 - 0	Copa América 2007

Under 17 Team

Despite the current failures of the senior side, the Peruvian U-17 team has given brand new stars and hopes to Peruvian fans early in the year of 2007. After their first FIFA U-17 World Cup appearance in 2005 (Peru as host nation), the youth team has greatly improved in skill and determination. Their first U-17 World Cup saw them lose with merely 1 point. Yet, they started the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup with a bang as they defeated the local South Korean team with an array of constant attacks and effective counter-attacks that completely overwhelmed their opponents. Their second game against Togo was more difficult, but the team was able to sustain the African team and end the game with a 0-0 tie.

Current U-17 Squad

Head coach: Juan Jose Ore

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club
1	1GK	Eder Hermoza	April 4 1990	--	Alianza Lima
2	2DF	Jersi Socola	July 7 1990	--	Alianza Lima
3	2DF	Antony Molina	August 13 1990	--	Universidad San Martín de Porres
4	2DF	Joseph Munoz	January 6 1990	--	Esther Grande de Bentin
5	2DF	Nestor Duarte	September 8 1990	--	Academia Deportiva Cantolao
6	3MF	Bryan Salazar	June 1 1990	--	Sporting Cristal
7	3MF	Reimond Manco	August 23 1990	--	Alianza Lima
8	3MF	Carlos Bazalar	March 19 1990	--	Alianza Lima
9	4FW	Irven Avila	July 2 1990	--	Deportivo Real
10	3MF	Daniel Sanchez	May 2 1990	--	Sporting Cristal
11	3MF	Luis Trujillo	December 27 1990	--	Alianza Lima
12	1GK	Pedro Gallese	February 23 1990	--	Universidad San Martín de Porres
13	2DF	Manuel Calderon	January 20 1990	--	Deportivo Curibamba
14	3MF	Ernesto Salazar	April 19 1990	--	Alianza Lima
15	2DF	Jairo Hernandez	March 2 1990	--	Alianza Lima
16	2DF	Juan Arce	January 9 1990	--	Sporting Cristal
17	2DF	Juan Zevallos	July 7 1990	--	Universitario
18	3MF	Cesar Ruiz	January 10 1990	--	Sporting Cristal
19	4FW	Christian La Torre	March 9 1990	--	Sport Boys
20	3MF	Gary Correa	May 23 1990	--	Universitario
21	1GK	Victor Ulloa	March 15 1991	--	Sporting Cristal

Road to the 2007 U-17 World Cup

In 2007, the Peruvian U-17 football team went to the 2007 South American Under 17 football Championship that was held in Ecuador that started March 4 of that year. In the debut match, the Peruvian team had to face the Brazil. The Peruvians surprised the Brazilians 2-1 with one goal scored by Reimond Manco and the impressive forward La Torre.^[8]

In the group stage, Peru won most of the matches and ended first in its group (qualifying to the final round).

In the final round of the tournament (where the first 4 qualified to the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup) Peru won the first match against Venezuela. In the next match, Brazil crushed Peru 4-0 and Colombia trounced them 3-0. By the fourth match Brazil, Colombia and Argentina were already qualified for the main tournament and Peru, Venezuela and host Ecuador had to fight for the last qualification spot.

The fifth match saw Peru with the obligation to defeat Ecuador. The match started horribly for Peru when an Ecuadorian midfielder scored at the first minutes of play. Peru answered quickly when Reimond Manco assisted midfielder Sanchez for a goal. Ecuador was seen to have determination, and it scored once again at the 20th minute of the first half. However, Reimond Manco scored goal caused by a mistake from the Ecuadorian Mendoza, sending them one huge step closer to the world tournament and eliminating their fierce rivals.^[9]

For the last match against Argentina, Peru had to lose by at least 4 goals to be eliminated. Peru was capable of drawing the match and classified to the U-17 World Cup. Reimond Manco was named as one of the best players of the competition by the CONMEBOL.^[10]

Date	Venue	Opponents	Result	Score
March 4, 2007	Riobamba, Ecuador	Brazil	W	2 - 1
March 6, 2007	Riobamba, Ecuador	Bolivia	W	4 - 1
March 8, 2007	Ambato, Ecuador	Chile	L	1 - 3
March 10, 2007	Ambato, Ecuador	Ecuador	D	0 - 0
March 16, 2007	Ibarra, Ecuador	Venezuela	W	2 - 1
March 18, 2007	Ibarra, Ecuador	Brazil	L	0 - 4
March 20, 2007	Ibarra, Ecuador	Colombia	L	0 - 3
March 23, 2007	Latacunga, Ecuador	Ecuador	D	2 - 2
March 25, 2007	Quito, Ecuador	Argentina	D	1 - 1

2007 U-17 World Cup

The same week as Peru was to face South Korea, a terrible 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Peru. Peru thus started the tournament with the huge responsibility of bringing some joy to the thousands of Peruvians left without homes.

The surprise came from the start, Peru went all out into the attack. Not only that, but the Peruvian defense was effective and even managed to counter-attack on many occasions. South Korea was also decided to win, specially since they were playing at home. At minute 29 of play, with a goal of Carlos Bazalar, Peru set itself ahead and was able to maintain its high-performance with several other chances of scoring. With the victory of 1-0.

The second game, against Togo, proved to be quite a challenge for Peru. Togo went completely into the attack from the start of the game, and Peru was forced to wait for its chance. The attacks of Togo were, though, not very conclusive. Once Peru had the ball, its attacks were more effective, but no favorable conclusion came to them either. Peruvian forwards, Reimond Manco and Irven Avila were the main driving forces of Peru; but goalie Eder Hermoza proved himself against the strikes of Togo. The match ended in a 0-0, mainly favoring Peru which by then had 4 points, a score that could get them to the next round as one of the best third. .^[11]

Peru now will play Costa Rica, a game that will decide in what position Peru will end in its group.

References

See also

• Federación Peruana de Fútbol
• Primera División Peruana
• Segunda División Peruana
• Copa Perú
• Chile and Peru football rivalry

External links

• Peru FA
• FIFA team profile

Titles

Preceded by 1937 Argentina	South American Champions 1939 (First title)	Succeeded by 1941 Argentina
Preceded by 1967 Uruguay	South American Champions 1975 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1979 Paraguay
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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