Home to the Inca Empire during the Pre-Colombian America times, Peru is a multiethnic nation which includes Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The Peruvian territory is also well-known due to it's association with the Norte Chicho, which is the oldest civilization in the world. Spanish is the largest spoken language, understandably due to it's Spanish colonization era.
One unique aspect of this country is it's diverse climate. Unlike other equatorial countries, the influence of the Andes and the Humbolt Current brings out different climates in different Peruvian regions. The country also has a vast variety of economical sources with copper, gold and zinc being it's main exports.
Football too has been a deep part of Peru's history with them experiencing glorified years during the 1930s and 1970s. However, the current circumstances with their footballing side doesn't portray anything exemplary at all. Times have indeed been inconsistent as far as the Peruvian soccer is concerned.
Nostalgic memories of them being South America's only representatives during the 1936 Berlin Olympics lingers among the older generations in Peru. Two years later, they won their first international title at the Bolivarian Games. But greater things came a year later when they won their first ever Copa America title by beating Uruguay in the final. The 1930s were indeed good times in Peruvian soccer and the likes of Alejandro Villanueva and Adelfo Magallanes were crowd favorites at that time.
By the 1950s, Peru were already recognized as an international footballing powerhouse despite finding international success at majestic levels tough to come by. But the era of 'Didi' Perreira during the 1970s brought back some much needed success to boost the sport in Peru, progressing all the way into the quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup before suffering a 4-2 defeat at the hands of eventual champions Brazil.
After that, 'decline' was the perfect word to describe the situation as Peruvian soccer entered as dark moment that has never seen them recover their 'powerhouse' status till today. Players like Nolberto Solano, Claudio Pizzaro, Juan Carlos Oblitas and much recently, Jefferson Farfan have all been produced. But none of them have managed to bring back the glory days of Peruvian soccer and as things stand now, they are even regarded as the worst of the crop belonging to Latin America.
A Recap of Peru's Copa America History And Record
Peru have a decent record in the Copa America when it comes to general statistics, ranking fifth behind Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay. Basically, La Rojiblanca have hosted the prestigious tournament six times and won it on two occasions. Fans would definitely have vivid images to their first triumph back in 1939, where they became the fourth team to win it after Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.
Teodoro Fernandez was the hero of that tournament, finishing as top scorer with seven goals. Peru stayed unbeaten throughout the tournament with impressive wins over Chile, Paraguay and Ecuador enabling them to progress into the final. Uruguay proved to be a tough nut to crack but goals from Jorge Alcalde and Victor Bielich gifted a 2-1 win on a fantastic occassion at Estadio Nacional, Lima.
It took them another 36 years to win the Copa America again but it was indeed well worth the wait. Wins over Bolivia and Chile in the Group Stages placed them firmly on top of Group B. In the knockout round, Peru faced Brazil and with the score standing at 3-3 after two legs of matches, a random draw was called to determine the winners and Peru emerged the lucky one as they made it into the final where they defeated Colombia to win their second Copa America title.
After that, things became delicate for the Peruvians and inconsistency took over the helm. Their best finish after that 1975 triumph was a fourth place finish at the 1997 edition, after they lost to Mexico in the third place classification match.
Winners: 1939, 1975
Third place: 1927, 1935, 1949, 1955
Fourth place: 1929, 1941, 1957, 1959, 1997
Semi-finals: 1979, 1983
Quarter-finals: 1993, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007
Fifth place: 1942, 1947, 1953, 1963
Sixth place: 1937, 1956
Round 1: 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995
Did Not Participate: 1916-1926 (10 editions)
Withdrew: 1945, 1946, 1967
Peru's 2011 Copa America Coach And Squad
Peru's Coach:
For someone that never made it to professional football, Sergio Markarian has achieved a lot as a football manager. Watching Uruguay defeat against Holland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup inspired him to take up professional coaching and he has proved himself at different set-ups since then.
He won the Paraguayan league title during his coaching debut season with Olimpico Assuncion back in 1983. Having proven himself there, Markarian moved to the Peruvian league where he won the league title with Universitario de Deportes and Sporting Cristal. He also took Sporting Cristal to the Copa Libertadores final in 1997, only to be defeated in the final. He also built himself a very reputable fame in Greece where he guided Ionikos into the UEFA Cup back in 1998 before inspiring Panathinaikos into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2002.
Markarian returned back to Paraguay, where he lifted another two league titles with Libertad in 2006 and 2007. He was then appointed as Peru's national football team coach in 2010, tasked with the job of guiding Peru to an acceptable finish in the upcoming Copa America. Ca he do it?
Peru's 2011 Copa America 23-man squad roster:
To be updated when announced
Top Quote From Peru's Camp Ahead Of The 2011 Copa America
Coach Sergio Markarian to AFP:
"Peru will be okay, don't worry. I'll do my best to make sure Peru have a good performance."
