Jefferson Agustín Farfán Guadalupe (; born 26 October 1984) is a Peruvian former 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 mainly played as a winger. Commonly known as Farfán or the nickname ''Foquita'' (Spanish for ''Little Seal''), he is known for his speed and technical ability and was one of the best providers of assists during his time in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. Farfán began his career with

Deportivo Municipal Club Centro Deportivo Municipal, commonly known as Deportivo Municipal, is a Peruvian Association football, football club based in Lima, Peru. They are among Peru's most recognizable clubs and enjoy considerable popularity. The bulk of their succ ...

and

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 ...

; the latter club saw him make his professional debut in 2001. In 2002, Farfán was highlighted as one of the next best players of Peruvian football and a year later, won his second Primera División title. After winning his third league title with Alianza in 2004, he was recognized as the best Peruvian player of that year. Having joined

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

in mid-2004, Farfán helped the Dutch giants win four

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

titles. He signed for Bundesliga side

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

in 2008 and during his time with the club, he won the 2011 DFB-Pokal Final. In 2012, he was named the most expensive Latin American player in the league. Farfán briefly played for

Al-Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business * Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

before leaving due to a

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

. He last played in Russia for Lokomotiv, when, in his second season, helped the club win their first league title in 14 years and finished as the team's top scorer. With the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, Farfán is the country's second top goalscorer, behind only

Paolo Guerrero José Paolo Guerrero González (; born 1 January 1984) is a Peruvian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Peruvian Primera División club Club Alianza Lima, Alianza Li ...

. He is very popular in Peru, with coach

Ricardo Gareca Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi (; born 10 February 1958), nicknamed ''el Tigre'' and ''el Flaco'' ("Tiger " and "Slim"), is an Argentine football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Chile national team. During his play ...

naming him "one of the most important players in the history of Peruvian football." He helped his side finish third at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

and second in Brazil 2019.

Club career

Alianza Lima

Farfán began his professional career with

of Peru. He made some appearances in 2001 on the first-team, and began to break through in 2002, and impacting Alianza with its 2003 Peru championship. In his final season with the club in 2004, Farfán scored 14 goals, helping the club to another Peru championship.

PSV Eindhoven

Following that season he was purchased by Dutch club

after being scouted by

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

, for a reported 2 million Euro transfer fee. Farfán made his debut in the

on 14 August in a 5–2 win against RBC Roosendal. Almost two weeks later, Farfán's European debut would come in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, a 5–0 win against

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. PSV qualified for the final tournament and he played in all twelve games. In the group match against the Norwegian Rosenborg BK, he scored his inaugural European goal in 2–1 win. A month earlier, he had scored his first league goal, in a 4–0 win against

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

. With PSV, Farfán won both the league and the cup tournament in his first season in the Netherlands. The Eredivisie would be won by PSV in the following three consecutive seasons. In the 2005/06 season, Farfán finished with 21 goals as club top scorer and fourth top scorer in the league. In his last season with PSV, Farfán was less dominant, partly due to an ankle injury he sustained during the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

. In March 2008, rumors began to circulate about a departure from Eindhoven. In mid-2008, after winning the fourth championship with PSV, the Dutch team reached an agreement with

to sell him, a deal that amounted to approximately 17 million euros.

FC Schalke 04

On 5 June 2008, it was reported that PSV had reached an agreement with German side

over the transfer of Farfán for around €10 million. On 10 June 2008, the club officially confirmed the transfer of Farfán on a four-year contract. In March 2011, he scored twice against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in the

2010–11 UEFA Champions League The 2010–11 UEFA Champions League was the 56th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 19th under the UEFA Champions League format. The final was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 28 May 2011, where Ba ...

, helping Schalke 04 reach the quarter-finals. The goal that he himself considers as one of the best of his career, and which earned him the nickname "cohete" (rocket), took place in a match against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

, on 23 October 2011. In the 82nd minute he stole the ball near the Schalke area and ran at high speed almost the entire field to then define with his right foot. The German press surrendered to this goal, describing him as a "super sprinter" for his 80-meter run in 10 seconds. On 28 April 2012, Schalke announced that Farfán had signed a contract extension, which would keep him at S04 until 30 June 2016.

Al Jazira Club

On 20 July 2015, after seven years at the club, Schalke confirmed that Farfán had joined

Al Jazira Club Al Jazira Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that currently competes in the UAE Pro League. History Al-Jazira was established in 1974 as a merger between ''Khalidiyah'' and ''Al Bateen''. The club struggled ...

of the

for a reported fee of €6 million on a three-year deal, where he could earn up to €10 million a year. Farfán left the club on 19 October 2016, because the club did not respect all the clauses in his contract.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 28 January 2017, he signed with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

side

FC Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

. The Russian team announced his signing after an irregular 2016, where he even was inactive for a hundred days after finishing in October 2016 a millionaire contract with Al Jazira. After 6 months of recovery, Farfán had a good season making goals that allowed his team to get the national title after 14 years, becoming the third top goalscorer of the season with 10 goals and 4 assists. He didn't appear for Lokomotiv for 14 months from May 2019 due to knee injury and a following positive test for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He made his first appearance upon recovery on 12 July 2020 in a game against

FC Ufa FC Ufa (, ) is a Football in Russia, Russian football club based in Ufa that plays in the Russian First League. History During the summer of 2010, Rustem Khamitov, the second President of the Bashkortostan, Republic of Bashkortostan, began consi ...

and scored a late equalizer for his club in a 1–1 draw. On 5 August 2020, Lokomotiv announced that Farfán left the club as his contract expired.

Alianza Lima

On 22 March 2021, Farfán signed with and returned to Alianza Lima after 17 years. He made his debut on 6 April against

and scoring a goal, ending the game 1-0 in favor of Alianza. Farfán would be key to Alianza Lima, winning the First Division in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. On 16 December 2022, Farfán announced his retirement at the age of 38.

International career

Farfán made his debut for the

Peru national football team The Peru national football team (), nicknamed ''La Bicolor'', represents Peru in men's international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Federación Peruana de Fútbol (). It has been a member of FIFA since 1924 ...

in February 2003. He gained 102 caps and is second on the nation's career goalscoring list with 27 goals. He ended the South American 2006 World Cup qualifiers as the second top scorer, with seven goals. He was suspended for 18 months from representing the national football team of Peru. But on 3 July 2008, after an investigation and a review of the facts, the suspension was changed to three months (from the date of appeal in April 2008) and $10,000. Farfán scored the winning goal in the World Cup qualifier at home to Chile on 23 March 2013. He was a member of the

that finished in third place at the

. Farfán has been a key performer for Peru during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers where he scored 3 goals. He scored 2 goals in a 3–4 home loss to Chile and the winner in a 1–0 home win over Paraguay. He scored one of two goals in a 2–0 home win against New Zealand that led Peru qualify to the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

after a 36-year absence. In June 2018 he was named in Peru's final 23-man squad for the

in Russia. He started in their first group game against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, which resulted in a 0–1 loss. Farfán started as a substitute in their second group game against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, coming on in the 46th minute to replace

Yoshimar Yotún Víctor Yoshimar Yotún Flores (; born 7 April 1990) is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays for Peruvian Liga 1 club Sporting Cristal and the Peru national team. He can play as a left back, left winger, or defensive midfielder. Clu ...

. His side were eliminated from the competition after another 0–1 loss. He missed their final group game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as he was rushed to hospital after a suffering a concussion in training. Peru won their final game 2–0. In Peru's second game of the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

, Farfán scored a goal in Peru's 3-1 victory over

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. Farfán suffered an injury to his left knee prior to Peru's last-eight clash against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, ruling him out of the rest of the tournament. The

Peruvian Football Federation The Peruvian Football Federation ( or ) is the body that governs Association football in Peru. It was founded on August 23, 1922, and affiliated with FIFA in 1924. It is a member of CONMEBOL since 1925, and directly oversees the Peru national fo ...

(FPF) confirmed the injury, with Farfán expected to be sidelined for 6 to 9 months. On 6 July 2019, Farfán underwent knee surgery in Barcelona, just hours before his team faced hosts

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 ...

in the 2019 Copa América Final. Peru went on to lose the game 3–1 in his absence.

Playing style

Farfán is considered to be a fast and technically gifted

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

or winger, and is regarded less as a goal-scorer, but instead as more of an assist provider and as a

creator Creator or The Creator may refer to: Film and television * ''Creator'' (film), a 1985 film starring Peter O'Toole, Vincent Spano, Mariel Hemingway, and Virginia Madsen * ''The Creator'' (1999 film), a French film written and directed by and sta ...

of goals. His one-on-one

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, accurate

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

s and passes contributed heavily to Schalke's goals, especially in the international arena. Farfán is also known for his

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

and

direct Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), ...

indirect free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either direct or indirect, distinguished as follows: ...

ability.

Career statistics

Club

International

:' :''Scores and results list Peru's goal tally first.''

Honours

Alianza Lima *

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 ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

PSV Eindhoven *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2004–05; runner-up: 2005–06 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

runner-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Schalke 04 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

; runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Al Jazira Club *

UAE President's Cup The UAE President's Cup, or simply the President Cup, is a association football, football tournament that takes place in United Arab Emirates, between Football team, clubs in the UAE Pro League and the UAE First Division League. The winner qualifi ...

: 2015–16 Lokomotiv Moscow *

: 2017–18 * Russian Cup: 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football (soccer), football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Rambler Russian ...

runner-up:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Peru U18 *

Bolivarian Games The Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos'', full name ''Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos'') are a regional multi-sport event held in honor of Simón Bolívar, and organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (''Organización Deporti ...

Peru *

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 ...

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

; third place:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Personal life

Farfán has three children; two sons and one daughter. Having spent most of his career in Germany, he could speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, though not fluently. Despite his talents, he became widely known in the late 2000s for his indiscipline and controversial behavior. He was involved in three major national football team scandals in 2007, 2010, and 2019; the first two led to his suspension from the national team. Farfán's cousin Quembol Guadalupe (born 2004) also became a professional footballer, playing as a defender for

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farfan, Jefferson 1984 births Living people Footballers from Lima Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Peru men's under-20 international footballers Peru men's international footballers Club Alianza Lima footballers PSV Eindhoven players FC Schalke 04 players FC Lokomotiv Moscow players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players Peruvian Primera División players Russian Premier League players 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Al Jazira Club players UAE Pro League players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players FIFA Men's Century Club Bolivarian Games gold medalists for Peru Bolivarian Games medalists in football Peruvian people of African descent