Percy Vílchez Pantoja (born 15 December 1952) is a retired Peruvian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player that played as a forward. Nicknamed "Chino", he was part of the squad of

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

during the early 1970s, known for being a major contribution to the team playing in the 1972 Copa Libertadores finals. He also played for Peru in the Brazil Independence Cup but didn't travel with the rest of the team.

Early life

As a child, Vílchez was described as having lung complications by his doctors, and a possible infection with tuberculosis. With his medic recommending more activity in his life, living near the beach, Vílchez had a daily routine of waking up at five in the morning and went on morning runs.

Club career

In his youth career, he played for Colegio Nacional San José de Chiclayo. Vílchez had to decide to play for either

Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín is a Peruvian football club, playing in the city of Trujillo, Peru. The club is the biggest of Trujillo city, and one of the biggest in La Libertad Province. The club were founded 1 August 1917 and play in the Copa P ...

, Carlos A. Mannucci or

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a professional football club based in Chiclayo, Peru. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005; they play in the Torneo Descentral ...

with his final choice being the latter. Starting in the 1971 season, he played for

with his preliminary match having scored 5 goals against

Alianza Atlético Club Alianza Atlético de Sullana is a Peruvian association football, football club, located in the city of Sullana, Piura region, Piura. The club was founded in 1920 and promoted to the Primera División Peruana, Peruvian Primera División in 198 ...

at Chiclayo and travelled with the team to Lima on the same day. During the

1972 Copa Libertadores The 1972 Copa Libertadores was the 13th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's the annual club tournament. Independiente of Argentina defeated Universitario de Deportes of Peru in the finals, and became the second team in the tournament' ...

he scored several goals against various clubs, contributing to the team reaching the 1972 Copa Libertadores finals. His most famous goal of the tournament was in the match against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

where he "danced" against goalkeeper

Manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

, scoring three goals in the match. As a result of this match, several clubs such as Nacional of Uruguay and Botafogo of Brazil made offers to Vílchez for his transfer. Instead, he chose to remain in Universitario for two more years before transferring to

Atlético Chalaco The club is the first soccer representative of the first port of Peru, Callao, which laid the foundations for future Chalacos clubs, going from being a school club to being a professional club, gaining recognition, prestige and trust among fan ...

for the 1974 season and to Valencia in Venezuela for the first half of the 1975 season. Due to the many plays and experience he had made, Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz showed interest in Vílchez and signed him up until the 1977 season. Vílchez returned to play for

for the remainder of the 1977 season all the way to the 1982 season, notably scoring against

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

during the

1979 Copa Libertadores The 1979 Copa Libertadores represented the 20th edition of the tournament, which saw Olimpia of Paraguay win the title for the first time, the first time a team from a country outside Uruguay, Argentina or Brazil won the tournament. This allowed ...

. In 1982, while playing in a match against

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, popularly known as Alianza Lima or simply Alianza, is a Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. It is widely known for having one of the most historical and successful football teams i ...

, he found himself attempting to make a goal against Alianza goalkeeper José González Ganoza when defender Tomás Farfán sprained his right leg, causing Vílchez to be unable to play for the remainder of the match. He retired a year later for the 1983 season for

International career

Unlike many Peruvian players of the 1970s generation, Vílchez didn't make his official debut with Peru, appearing only in preliminary rosters but not playing any matches with a notable instance of this being listed for the Peruvian roster of the Brazil Independence Cup but not travelling with the rest of the team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vílchez, Percy 1953 births Living people People from Trujillo Province, Peru Peruvian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Peru men's international footballers Peruvian Primera División players Juan Aurich footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Atlético Chalaco footballers Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico C.D. Veracruz footballers