Héctor Eduardo Chumpitaz Gonzáles (; born 12 April 1943, in Cañete) is a former

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 ...

from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. He was voted one of the greatest

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

of all time, among the 30 best

in football history, and included within the 100 best players in the history of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

in 2018. He is also a member of the Historic Ideal Team of

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

. In addition, he is the seventh highest-scoring South American defender in football history, with 65 official goals. Considered by

as one of the best South American defenders of all time, Chumpitaz is also one of the greatest exponents in the history of Peruvian football. He spent most of his career at

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has Association football, soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universi ...

and

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

. He currently has a football school named as him, where he is dedicated to training minors. Chumpitaz was regarded one of the best defenders in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and is widely considered one of the four best South American defenders of all time along with Elías Figueroa, José Nasazzi, and

Daniel Passarella Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

. With great defensive skills, excellent reading of the game, possession and distribution of the ball and an imposing leader role, he became one of the most legendary figures of

, a club with which he won five titles in the Peruvian League and was a finalist in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

in 1972. In addition to having won three other national titles with

, Chumpitaz is remembered for having been captain of the American team that played a friendly match against the stars of Europe, among them were Giacinto Facchetti, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira,

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

—who was the captain of Europe, among other figures. It was there that he was given the nickname "El Capitán de America" ("America's

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

"). At the national team level, for almost fifteen years Chumpitaz was the captain and great defensive bulwark of the Peru national football team that won the Copa América 1975 and reached the quarterfinals in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

of Mexico 1970 and Argentina 1978. Chumpitaz is considered one of the greatest South American defenders of all-time and was named to the list of best

players of all time by Terra.com in 2006. He was elected the 35th best South American

of the 20th century in a poll by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

in 2000.

Career

At the age of 19, Chumpitaz joined a second division team in

, the Unidad Vecinal. Chumpitaz became a first division player in 1964, when he was signed by Deportivo Municipal, a team where he stayed until 1965. During 1966, Chumpitaz began playing for

, where he was part of the team that won five Peruvian league championships (1966, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1974). Chumpitaz captained the

side to a runner-up place in the Copa Libertadores 1972, losing 2–1 to Independiente of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the final. In 1973, All-Star teams from the American and European continents played against each other in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain. Football greats such as

and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

participated in that game. Chumpitaz was selected captain of the American continent's team, thus earning the nickname "America's Captain". The game finished 4–4 and in Penalty kicks, America won 7–6. The following year, Chumpitaz was signed for the first time by an international club, Club Atlas of Mexico. In 1977, Chumpitaz went on to play for

, a team he would play with until 1984. He won three Peruvian league championships (1979, 1980 and 1983) with the team. Chumpitaz became the national soccer top scoring defender of

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; known simply as ''First Division'', and Liga 1 Te Apuesto for sponsorship reasons), officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since ...

, with 65 goals in 456 matches.

International career

On April 3, 1965, Chumpitaz played his debut game with the Peru national football team when Peru lost to

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, 1–0, in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. On May 16, 1965, Chumpitaz played his debut

qualifier game where

beat

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, 1–0, in

. His debut international game came that same year as

and

held a rematch in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, with

defeating the Venezuelans, 6–3. Chumpitaz secured his first World Cup action when Peru national football team, winning 1–0 in Lima, and soon tied with

, 2–2, on August 31, 1969, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. Chumpitaz played his first World Cup game on June 2, 1970, when the Peru defeated

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, 3–2, in León, Mexico. Although Peru advanced to the quarterfinals of that World Cup, they were eliminated by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on June 14 in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, by a score of 4–2. Chumpitaz played for Peru's national team in the Brazil Independence Cup, held between June 18 and 25, 1972, in

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, Brazil. He helped his team to the championship game with a 1–0 victory over

, but Peru lost in its group's final game to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, 2–1. In 1975, Chumpitaz played for the national team that won the

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

held in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Chumpitaz returned to the World Cup in 1978, when Peru played for the

's most heralded championship in

played six games in that World Cup, winning two of them. Peru were eliminated after losing to hosts Argentina, 6–0. This would turn out to be Chumpitaz's last World Cup participation; he retired from the Peru national football team after the team qualified for the 1982 World Cup, held in Spain. Chumpitaz played a total of 105 games with the national team.

International goals

Honours

Universitario de Deportes

* Peruvian League **Winner (5): 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1974 **Runner-up (1): 1972 *

**Runner-up (1): 1972

Sporting Cristal

* Peruvian League **Winner (3): 1979, 1980, 1983 **Runner-up (1): 1977

National team

**Winner (1): 1975

Individual awards

*1969 Best Defender

*1971 Best Defender

*1973 All Stars

: Captain *2000 World Soccer's: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time *2004 South American – Player of the Century: Ranking Nº 35 *2007 Midfield Dynamo's 10 Heroes of the

* 2007

All-Star team, all-time *2008 All Stars

in the last 50 years * 2008 Defender all-time scoring: Ranking Nº 32 * Copa América Historical Dream Team: 2011

Career statistics

Current life

Despite retiring, Chumpitaz continued being a public figure, and, on December 3, 2004, he was found guilty and sentenced to four years of suspended sentence (probation), for allegedly accepting US$30,000 from presidential advisor and right-hand man

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...

, supposedly after joining former minister Juan Carlos Hurtado in latter's quest to become mayor of Lima in 1998, during

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

's presidency. After the appeals process, on April 8, 2005, the Supreme Court of Peru nullified the sentence against Chumpitaz.

References

External links

arkivperu.com, in Spanish

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chumpitaz, Hector 1944 births Living people Sportspeople from the Department of Lima Men's association football defenders Peruvian men's footballers Peru men's international footballers Deportivo Municipal footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Atlas F.C. footballers Sporting Cristal footballers Peruvian football managers Sporting Cristal managers Deportivo Municipal managers Peruvian Primera División players Liga MX players 1970 FIFA World Cup players 1975 Copa América players 1978 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Men's Century Club Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Copa América–winning players 20th-century Peruvian sportsmen