World Cup Legends: Peru’s Teófilo Cubillas
By Marcel Dumas
In 2004, Pele named Cubillas to his FIFA 100 list of greatest living footballers. This was a deserving accolade for the Peruvian legend…
Peru is making a return to the World Cup for the first time since Spain 1982. After bringing their 36 year drought to an end, Peru will be hoping some of their players can replicate the contribution of former star Teófilo Cubillas.
Cubillas was a forward who represented Peru in the 1970, 1978 and 1982 World Cup. He would finish his international career in 1982 after 81 appearances in which he netted 26 times. His 26 goals is still the record for the Peruvian national team.
Born in Lima, Cubillas would get his first call to the national team in 1968. At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, he would score five goals in four games including one in a quarterfinal loss to Brazil. He would finish the tournament as the third leading scorer. He was also awarded the FIFA World Cup Young Player award for his tournament heroics at the age of 21.
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Peru would fail to qualify for the 1974 World Cup in Germany. They finished tied with Chile in group 3 of the CONMEBOL qualifying, but lost the playoff match 2-1.
Despite the let down on the international level, Cubillas had seen his career continue to take off. After spending six seasons representing his hometown team Allianza Lima, Cubillas made the move to Europe. In 1973 he would join Basel in Switzerland.
He would parlay that opportunity into a move to Portuguese giant Porto in 1974. He would head back to Lima in 1977 after having scored 48 goals in 85 appearances for Porto.
Cubillas would again play a key role for Peru in Argentina for the 1978 World Cup. He would lead them to the second round netting five goals and finishing second in the Golden Shoe race to Mario Kempes.
After the World Cup, the midfielder moved to the NASL to play for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers beginning in 1979. He would stay with the team until 1983 when the franchise moved to Minnesota. He would rejoin the Strikers when they joined the Major Indoor Soccer League after the NASL folded in 1984.
Teófilo Cubillas would continue to play into his early forties, remaining around the Miami area. He did return to Lima in 1987 to play for Allianza after a plane crash took the lives of many of its players.
Next: International Watch: France and Portugal in action
In 2004, Pele named Cubillas to his FIFA 100 list of greatest living footballers. This was a deserving accolade for the Peruvian legend. His 10 goals in 13 World Cup appearances shows the impact he had, an impact Peru hopes someone on their current squad is ready to replicate.