History of the Peru national football team
Till the date, Peru has participated in five editions of the FIFA World Cup (1930, 1970, 1978, 1982 and 2018), its best results being the quarterfinals reached in 1970 and 1978, while in South America, it has been champion of the Copa América in 1939 and 1975.
Football was brought to Peru by English sailors in the late 19th century during their frequent visits to Callao, which was then an important port of the Pacific Ocean.
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] In the 1900s (decade), the construction of the Panama Canal limited the flow of foreign sailors and travelers into Callao, minimizing the port's influence as a center of cultural diffusion.
[21] Nevertheless, due to internal corruption and the commotion surrounding the Great Depression, the team that played in the 1929 edition was selected by social favoritism rather than player skill, and lost all games.
[25] Between 1933 and 1934, the national squad (composed mainly of players from Universitario de Deportes, Alianza Lima, and Atlético Chalaco) united with the Chilean squad (formed mainly by players from Colo-Colo) to form the Combinado del Pacifico (known by the European press as the "Peru-Chile XI" and "All-Pacific", among other names),[26] which toured the European countries of England, Germany, France, and Spain until August 1935.
[36] The national squad's diminishing effectiveness was most apparent during the South American Championships of the 1940s,[37] where the team's most positive performances came from goalkeeper José Soriano.
[33] Three years later, at the South American Championship held in Brazil, Peru gained third place after defeating Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and Uruguay.
[37] Players such as Alberto Terry, Guillermo Barbadillo, Valeriano López, Félix Castillo, and Óscar Gómez Sánchez contributed to Peru's competitive play throughout the 1950s.
[37] The team made a slight recovery as the decade closed, reaching fourth place at the 1957 and 1959 South American Championships, and defeating England 4–1 in an exhibition match.
[33] However, these would be the only achievements of the decade, as Peru failed to place in the top four spots of the 1963 South American Championship, did not qualify for the Chile and England World Cups, and was unable to regain the Copa del Pacífico.
[44] The squad, managed by "Didi" Pereira, followed a 4–2–4 formation that typically comprised 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.
[45] The participation of Peru in the 1970 FIFA World Cup was particularly memorable when the squad caused surprise as they advanced into the quarterfinals by defeating Bulgaria 3–2 and Morocco 3–0,[46][47][48] and despite losing 3–1 to Germany.
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.
[55][63] After the tournament, the squad played some international friendlies to prepare for the Copa América of 1979; they would tie Scotland at Glasgow (1–1) and defeat Uruguay in Lima (2–0).
[37] Tim's squad was composed of a 4–4–2 formation with Jaime Duarte, Rubén Toribio Díaz, Salvador Salguero, and Jorge Olaechea in defense; César Cueto, José Velásquez, Julio César Uribe, and Teófilo Cubillas in midfield; Gerónimo Barbadillo and Juan Carlos Oblitas as forwards; and Ramón Quiroga as goalkeeper.
Tragedy struck on December 8, 1987, when the airplane carrying Alianza Lima's team and coaching staff crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
[72] In the year 2000, the team was invited to join the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament along with Colombia and South Korea,[73] and earned third place in the North American competition.
[77] During 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, a corruption and discipline scandal shook the national team as Peruvian journalists Jaime Bayly and Magaly Medina revealed that a series of Peru's most recognized players, including Claudio Pizarro, Andrés Mendoza, Santiago Acasiete, Paolo Guerrero, and Jefferson Farfán, were seen at nightclubs and parties only days before the team was scheduled to play qualifier matches.
[80][81][82] Following the end of the qualifiers, Juan Manuel Vargas and Nolberto Solano, who officially retired from the team at this time, expressed their hopes to change the way things were going for the national squad.
On July 2, 2010, Uruguayan Sergio Markarián took charge of the national team with the task of leading Peru in the 2011 Copa América and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
[85] His work with the national team received positive comments from Pelé,[86] and an early award as Peru won the Kirin Cup for a third time.
[87] Markarián's first challenge came in the form of another discipline scandal, which he resolved by temporarily banning Jefferson Farfán, Reimond Manco, and John Galliquio.
[91] Burga would be later prosecuted and arrested for corruption charge, eventually acquitted after investigation, but was permanently banned from football activities by FIFA in 2019.
[94] Gareca's arrival was met with skepticism and hostility by Peruvian media, having previously never coached any national team and his major success only lied with Vélez Sarsfield, as well as his goal that led to Peru's elimination from the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Peru, however, had a relatively poor form in the group stage, drawing Venezuela goalless, beating Bolivia 3–1 before got smashed 0–5 by host Brazil and only managed to finish in third place, facing Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
[108][109] The Peruvian team, led by Ricardo Gareca, together with the host Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela formed group B of the contest.
