Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈofilo kuˈβiʎas]; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

[3] Beginning at Alianza Lima, he was nicknamed El Nene (The Kid), and was part of the Peru national team that won the 1975 Copa América.

[7] In February 2008, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Brazilian World Cup victory, he was selected in the All-Star First Team of South America of the past 50 years.

In the summer of 1967, Cubillas, aged 18, made his international debut in a friendly match and scored a double in a 6-1 win over Independiente of Argentina.

Directors of Deportivo Municipal and Alianza Lima formed a team in 1971 to play a series of friendly matches with the aim of bringing together Teófilo Cubillas with Hugo Sotil, another great star of the time, known as the Golden Pair, which left historic scorelines such as the victory over Benfica and the 4-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich.

[12] In the summer of 1973, Cubillas transferred to Swiss football club FC Basel under head coach Helmut Benthaus.

In December 1973, the Portuguese from Porto announced that they could raise enough money for the transfer, a commercial strategy that would be the last chance for Cubillas.

Nene himself remembers that "He was the highest paid player in the country, even ahead of Eusébio, a legend of Benfica and world football."

[17] Cubillas, along with many other players such as Hugo Sotil, César Cueto, José Velásquez and other, formed one of the best Alianza Lima sides in their history.

The 1977 Torneo Descentralizado tournament was between Alianza Lima and Melgar, both teams with the only chances of lifting the championship trophy.

For Melgar, the objective was to defeat Sporting Cristal and hope that Alianza Lima did not score any points against Universitario.

[25] After standing out notably in local football, he was called up to the Peru national team by head coach Didi for 1968 for the qualifiers for the 1970 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico.

[28] The Peru national team failed qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany, with Cubillas missing out on the play off match against Chile.

Cubillas played in the play-off match in the final, where partner Hugo Sotil scored to make the game 1-0.

Cubillas played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, with a good start, showing his skill, finishing co-second highest goal scorer after Mario Kempes, and helping Peru win first place of its group, advancing to the second round.

In that tournament, Peru's midfield made up of José Velásquez, César Cueto and Cubillas was considered by international critics as the best of the first phase of the World Cup.

[27] After being eliminated in the first phase, Cubillas would retire from the national team at the age of 33, with a total of 28 goals scored in 81 appearances.