Teofilo Cubillas

Nicknamed “El Nene”, for his boyish looks, Teofilo Cubillas Arizaga was born in Lima, Peru in March of 1949. He began his professional playing career at the age of 16 with local team, Alianza Lima. Playing midfield, El Nene made an immediate impact and led the league in scoring with 19 goals in 23 matches. Although he would win the top scorer honors again in 1970 (22 goals in 29 games), he would not capture his first Peruvian League title until his second stint with Alianza Lima in 1977. The following season they would again win the League and also capture the Metropolitan Championship of Peru. In a total of 10 seasons with his home club, Teofilo would play nearly 250 matches and net 165 goals.

The 1970 World Cup in Mexico provided Cubillas with the opportunity to display his talents at the world stage. At the age of only 20 years old, El Nene did not disappoint. He helped Peru advance to the quarterfinals by scoring in each of their four matches including a loss to eventual champions Brazil. Along the way, Cubillas won the FIFA World Cup Young Player Award and Bronze boot award and was also named to the World Cup All-star team. Impressed by his scoring prowess, Swiss club FC Basel signed Cubillas in 1973. Despite scoring 7 goals in 14 matches that season, El Nene found it difficult to settle in and decided to move to Portuguese side FC Porto in 1974. In three seasons with FC Porto, Cubillas played 108 matches and netted an impressive 65 goals.

Although Peru did not qualify for the World Cup in 1974, in 1975 Cubillas scored two goals as he helped Peru defeat Brazil 3-1 to win the Copa America. The World Cup in 1978 witnessed the return of Cubillas and his Peruvian side. Although they could again not escape out of the second round, Cubillas again scored five goals and again was named to the World Cup All-star team. Shortly after a disappointing performance in the 1982 World Cup, where Peru could not advance past the first round, Cubillas retired from international play.

El Nene spent a good part of the second half of his club career between teams in North America and his hometown club in Peru. He came out of retirement in an effort to give hope to his hometown club fans and to show respect after the 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster. On December 8 1987 the entire Alianza Lima team died in a plane crash just outside Ventanilla, Peru. After playing one final season with the Miami Sharks of the NASL, he remained in South Florida teaching children football at his academy with his sons. In 81 appearances for the Peruvian national side, Cubillas scored 26 goals and is in 7th place in the all-time World Cup scoring list with 10 goals.

Personal information

Senior career*

National team