Pedro Pablo León García (29 June 1943 – 9 May 2020), also known as Perico León, was a Peruvian professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as a
striker.
Career
León made 49 appearances for the
Peru national team between 1963 and 1973. He then started in the
1970 FIFA World Cup
The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...
for the Peru national football team, along with
Teófilo Cubillas,
Roberto Challe and
Hugo Sotil.
At club level, León played most of his career for
Alianza Lima
Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...
in Peru. He also played in Ecuador for
Barcelona Sporting Club
Barcelona Sporting Club (), internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of ...
and in Venezuela for
Deportivo Galicia
Deportivo Galicia Fútbol Club (later Galicia de Aragua) was a traditional Football (soccer), football club from Venezuela that competed in Segunda División Venezolana.
History
Founded in Caracas, the club moved, in 2002, to Maracay, in the st ...
.
Playing style
Perico León was a strong
striker of playful skills and a unique ability to effectively use the score with his head. His ability to create technical plays often allowed him to go back and aid his teammates, thus making him quite a complete player with the possibility to serve as both a good midfielder and an excellent forward. Due to this, Pedro Pablo León is often considered one of the best forwards in the history of Peruvian football.
Personal life
He lived in Miami, Florida, and enjoyed watching his grandson Brian Jair León play soccer for the Varsity high school soccer team in Nevada. His grandson is following in his grandfather's footsteps of becoming a professional footballer.
Honours
Individual awards
*
Peruvian League: Top Scorer 1963, 1967
Peruvian League: Top Scorer
/ref>
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Pedro Pablo
1943 births
2020 deaths
Footballers from Lima
Men's association football forwards
Peruvian men's footballers
Peru men's international footballers
Peruvian Primera División players
Club Alianza Lima footballers
Barcelona S.C. footballers
Deportivo Municipal footballers
Juan Aurich footballers
1970 FIFA World Cup players
Peruvian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador
Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela
Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador
Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela
20th-century Peruvian sportsmen