Teófilo Cubillas

In this article, the first or paternal family name is Cubillas and the second or maternal family name is Arizaga.

Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈofilo kuˈβiʎas]; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50.^[1] He was renowned for his technique, shooting ability and free kick ability.^[2] He was considered one of the best players in the world of the 1970s and the best in his position of the decade only behind the Dutch Johan Cruyff. Among his main achievements are the FIFA awards for the best young player and the bronze boot in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, as well as the silver boot and member of the ideal team of the 1978 FIFA World Cup, he was also champion and best player of the 1975 Copa América. He is regarded one of the best attacking midfielders in the history of football.

Teófilo Cubillas

Cubillas in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga
Date of birth	(1949-03-08) 8 March 1949 (age 76)
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
	Alianza Lima
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1966–1972	Alianza Lima	175	(117)
1973	Basel	10	(3)
1974–1977	Porto	85	(48)
1977–1978	Alianza Lima	47	(35)
1979–1983	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	139	(65)
1983	Fort Lauderdale Strikers (indoor)	9	(9)
1984	Alianza Lima	4	(4)
1984–1985	South Florida Sun	7	(5)
1987–1988	Alianza Lima	13	(3)
1988	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	12	(7)
1989	Miami Sharks	8	(1)
Total		506	(297)
International career
1968–1982	Peru	81	(26)
Managerial career
1988	Alianza Lima
Medal record Men’s football Representing  Peru Copa América Winner 1975
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicknamed El Nene (The Kid), he was part of the Peru national football team that won the 1975 Copa América.^[3] He helped Peru reach the quarter finals at the 1970 FIFA World Cup^[4] and again at the 1978 World Cup^[5] and was elected the South American Footballer of the Year in 1972.

In 2004, Pelé selected Cubillas as one of the FIFA 100, a list of 125 footballing greats.^[6] 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.^[7] Cubillas is one of only three players to score five or more goals in two different World Cups, the other two being Miroslav Klose and Thomas Müller.^[8]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Alianza Lima	1966	Peruvian Primera División[9]	23	19[10]	–
	1967		25	9	–		–
	1968		26	19	–		–
	1969		11	5	–		–
	1970		27	22[10]	–		–
	1971		29	22	–		–
	1972		29	14	–
	Total		170	110	0	0
FC Basel	1973–74	Swiss Super League[9]	10	3				2[11]
Porto	1973–74	Primeira Liga[9]	12	4	3	1	-		15	5
	1974–75		30	9	6	4	4	2	40	15
	1975–76		29	28	4	4	5	4	38	36
	1976–77		14	7	3	2	2	1	19	10
	Total		85	48	13	10	10	7	108	65
Alianza Lima	1977	Peruvian Primera División[9]	32	23	–		–	–	32	23
	1978		15	12	–	–	10	7	25	19
	Total		47	35	0	0	10	7	57	42
Fort Lauderdale Strikers[12]	1979	NASL[a]	30	16	—	–	–	—	32	16
	1980		34	18	–	–	–	–	34	18
	1981		34	19	–	–	–	–	34	19
	1982		18	4	–	–	–	–	18	4
	1983		23	8	–	–	–	–	23	8
	Total		139	65	0	0	0	0	139	65
Alianza Lima	1984	Peruvian Primera División	4	4	–	–	–	–	4	4
South Florida Sun	1984[13]	USL	5	4	–		–	–	5	4
	1985		2	1	–				2	1
	Total		7	5	0	0	0	0	7	5
Alianza Lima	1987	Peruvian Primera División	13	3					13	3
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1988[14]	ASL	12	7	–	–	–	–	12	7
Career total			488	280	15	12	31	22	534	314

1. Total statistics for his time in the NASL (1979–83) include playoff matches.

International

Scores and results list Peru's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cubillas goal.

List of international goals scored by Teófilo Cubillas^[15]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 May 1969	Bogotá, Colombia	Colombia	2–1	3–1	Friendly
2	9 July 1969	Lima, Peru	Paraguay	1–0	2–1	Friendly
3				2–0
4	17 August 1969	Lima, Peru	Bolivia	2–0	3–0	1970 World Cup qualifier
5	7 February 1970	Lima, Peru	Czechoslovakia	2–1	2–1	Friendly
6	9 February 1970	Lima, Peru	Romania	1–1	1–1	Friendly
7	24 February 1970	Lima, Peru	Bulgaria	1–2	5–3	Friendly
8	2 June 1970	León, Mexico	Bulgaria	3–2	3–2	1970 World Cup
9	6 June 1970	León, Mexico	Morocco	1–0	3–0	1970 World Cup
10				3–0
11	10 June 1970	León, Mexico	West Germany	1–3	1–3	1970 World Cup
12	14 June 1970	Guadalajara, Mexico	Brazil	2–3	2–4	1970 World Cup
13	5 April 1972	Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico	1–1	1–2	Friendly
14	23 April 1972	Bucharest, Romania	Romania	1–1	2–2	Friendly
15	4 March 1973	Lima, Peru	Guatemala	2–0	5–1	Friendly
16				4–1
17	23 April 1973	Lima, Peru	Panama	3–0	4–0	Friendly
18	20 August 1975	Lima, Peru	Chile	2–0	3–1	Copa America 1975
19	30 September 1975	Belo Horizonte, Brasil	Brazil	2–0	3–1	Copa America 1975
20	17 July 1977	Cali, Colombia	Bolivia	2–0	5–0	1978 World Cup qualifier
21				3–0
22	3 June 1978	Córdoba, Argentina	Scotland	2–1	3–1	1978 World Cup
23				3–1
24	11 June 1978	Córdoba, Argentina	Iran	2–0	4–1	1978 World Cup
25				3–0
26				4–1

Honours

Porto

• Taça de Portugal: 1976–77

Alianza Lima

• Peruvian Primera División: 1977, 1978

Fort Lauderdale Sun

• United Soccer League: 1984, 1985

Peru

• Copa América: 1975

Individual

• Peruvian Primera División top scorer: 1966, 1970^[10]
• FIFA World Cup Best Young Player: 1970
• FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot: 1970
• Copa Libertadores top scorer: 1972
• South American Footballer of the Year: 1972
• CONMEBOL All-Star Team: 1973^[16]
• Copa America Best Player: 1975
• FIFA World Cup Silver Boot: 1978
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1978
• NASL All-Star teams, all-time: 1980, 1981^[17]
• NASL Best Midfield: 1981
• Fort Lauderdale Strikers top scorer, all time: 1984^[18]
• France Football: World Cup top 100 1930–1990: 2000^[19]
• World Soccer The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time: 2000^[20]
• Placar The 100 Players of the Century: 2000^[21]
• Placar The 100 Players FIFA World Cup: 2000^[22]
• FIFA 100: 2004
• IFFHS' Best Players of the Century for Peru: 2006^[1]
• World – Player of the Century Nº 48: 2006^[23]
• South American – Player of the Century Nº 17: 2006^[24]
• The Best of The Best – Player of the Century Top 50: 2007^[25]
• CONMEBOL All-Star first team 1958–2008: 2008^[26]
• Peru national team all-time scoring leader: 2008