Perú National Soccer Team

Perú National Soccer Team

The Peru national football team represents Peru in international football competition and is managed by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF). The team competes against the other nine members of FIFA's CONMEBOL conference, which encompasses the countries of South America. The traditional colors of the team are white and red, the colors of the Peruvian flag, and the team is commonly known as la Blanquirroja (Spanish for "the white-and-red").

Founded in 1927, the team plays its home matches primarily at the Estadio Nacional in Lima. The team is a reflection of the multicultural society of Peru. Peru has won the Copa América on two occasions, and qualified for four FIFA World Cups and two Olympic tournaments; it has gone as far as the quarterfinal stage in both tournaments. Peru's traditional footballing rival is Chile, but the team also has a prominent rivalry with neighboring Ecuador.

The Peruvian team's performance has been inconsistent, although it is considered to have had two golden eras in football history (the 1930s and 1970s). The side's early years saw World Cup participations and victories in the 1938 Bolivarian Games and the 1939 Copa América, led by football legends Juan Valdivieso, Alejandro Villanueva, and Teodoro Fernández. Its 1950s side, which included Alberto Terry and Valeriano López, was considered to be among the top 20 strongest footballing nations of the decade, despite not winning any major tournaments. The golden generation of Peruvian football in the 1970s brought Peru back into the world view, with players such as Héctor Chumpitaz, Hugo Sotil, and Teófilo Cubillas leading to the belief that a new footballing powerhouse had emerged. This team qualified Peru for three FIFA World Cups, and won the Copa América in 1975.

Peru's 1982 World Cup participation was its last to date: the national team has not seen a major tournament victory or World Cup participation in over 27 years. The team was temporarily suspended from international participation by FIFA in late 2008 due to allegations of corruption between government sport authorities and the FPF. Peru has currently appointed Uruguayan Sergio Markarián as its head coach with looks of a successful participation in the 2011 Copa America and qualification to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Source : Wikipedia.com