Teams like Argentina and Brazil often get all the attention in terms of South American football, but Peru have also had some great sides down the years, and in particular the 1930-1939 team springs to mind. While Peru failed to progress beyond the group stage of the inaugural World Cup in 1930, the level of skill they demonstrated, especially in defence, surprised and impressed the Uruguayan audiences. Only 300 people rocked up to see them take on Romania, the lowest World Cup attendance ever, but these 300 were “lucky” enough to witness the first World Cup red card after a fight broke out and a Peru’s Placido Gallindo was given his marching orders. In order to develop their football further, it was decided that Peru would travel abroad throughout the 1930’s.

 

Over the years 1933, 1934 and 1935, the Peruvian national team, mainly composed of players from Universitario de Deportes, Alianza Lima and Atletico Chalaco, joined forces with the Chilean national team to form a team called the Combinado del Pacifico. This “super-team” toured Europe playing various clubs until August 1935, taking in Britain and Ireland, Germany, France and Spain. The side became referred to by the European press as the Peru-Chile XI or All-Pacific and although their results against the likes of Barcelona, Celtic, Hearts, Newcastle United, West Ham and Bayern Munich weren’t really much to write home about, they provided European audiences with one of their earliest tastes of the South American brand of football. After this, some of the All-Pacific’s Peruvian players returned to Europe to participate in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the only football representatives from South America. The rest of the Peruvian team were awestruck at the quality, modern stadiums and the level of admiration that the German people had for Adolf Hitler.

 

They performed remarkably well in the early stages of the tournament, destroying Finland 7-3 in their opener, Teodoro Fernandez netting 5 of Peru’s goals. Even more incredibly, however, Peru managed to defeat the superb Austrian Wunderteam, the tournament favourites, by a score of 4-2 in the next game, despite Austria winning 2-0 at half time. The South Americans were able to level the score by hitting the net twice in the last 15 minutes, forcing extra time in which they scored twice more. They actually scored 5 times in the extra time period, but 3 of these goals were inexplicably ruled invalid by the referee. The result was not without controversy. The Austrians demanded a rematch on the basis that Peruvian fans, one armed with a revolver, had invaded the pitch. It later came to light that they were fake fans planted at the game by and under instructions from Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels to undermine the South American side. As Germany did not exactly have a large Peruvian ex-pat population in the 1930’s, it’s highly likely that these “fans” were not Peruvian at all, and in fact their true nationalities were never discovered or even brought into discussion.

 

The Peruvian team were unable to make it to the hearing as they were “conveniently” delayed by a German parade, and so the Olympic Comittee and FIFA ruled in favour of the Austrians. A closed-door rematch was scheduled for August but the Peruvians protested, calling the decision insulting and discriminatory. As a result, the entire Olympic delegations of both Peru and Colombia left Germany, while Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Mexico expressed their solidarity with Peru. Austria were given the win by default and went on to the final. When the news came to light in Peru, angry crowds tore down and burned an Olympic flag, threw stones at the German consulate and refused to load German ships in the dock. When Peru returned home, they were warmly welcomed back as true champions by their people. It was widely believed that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party had some involvement in the situation. The European and South American press reported the incident differently and to this day, the exact details of what happened when Peru played Austria at the 1936 Olympics remain unknown.

 

Two years later however, Austria claimed their first international title when they won at the Bolivarian Games held in Bogota, Colombia. The Bolivarian Games are kind of like a mini Olympics just for South America and held in honor of Simon Bolivar, and Peru defeated Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and the hosts Colombia to win the football tournament. Then in 1939, Peru hosted and won the South American Championship by defeating Ecuador 5-2, Chile 3-1, Paraguay 3-0 and Uruguay in the final, 2-1. 

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Star player: Teofilo Hernandez, dob 20 May 1913, pob Canete, Peru, Nickname: Lolo

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Along with Teofilo Cubillas, Teofilo Hernandez is one of the two most important footballers in Peru’s history. A member of the squad that made it to the 1936 Olympic Games quarter finals, that won gold at the 1938 Bolivarian Games and that became champions of South America in 1939, Hernandez was the national teams captain between 1935 and 1947. He also played on the Peru-Chile XI that tourned Europe. He spent his whole career at Universitario de Deportes and is their most famous and beloved player, winning the Peruvian league with them 6 times and was the leagues top scorer on 7 occasions. His parents sent Hernandez to Lima for his studies where he stayed with his brother Arturo, a professional goalkeeper. When Arturo transferred to Universitario, he brought Lolo along for a kickabout at training and it was there that he was noticed and signed by Placido Galindo, a member of Peru’s 1930 World Cup team (the first player to be sent off in a World Cup match), who was then the clubs president. Hernandez remained there for 22 years, becoming the leagues top scorer in his first season. He played his last game for them in 1953 at the age of 40 and remains their all time highest scorer with 156 goals in 180 games. His loyalty to the club would be unheard of today. Hernandez received offers from Europe, Argentina and Chile, including a blank check on which he could write down any amount of money he wanted to be paid, and the club would pay it regardless of the amount, but he didn’t even accept that. Hernandez died in Lima aged 83 in 1996.