Cesar Cueto

César Augusto Cueto Villa (Lima, June 16, 1952) is a former Peruvian soccer player, recognized as one of the most talented players that Peruvian soccer has produced. He worked as an attacking midfielder or striker with exceptional ability, control of the ball, great vision of the game and ability to assist, as well as a very showy style that marked an era, characteristics that have earned him a place among the best left-footed midfielders in the South American football history.

He was one of the best South American midfielders between the seventies and eighties, and considered by specialized media the most technically gifted player that Peru produced in its history. He nicknamed the Left-Handed Poet .

During his career, he played for clubs in America since 1969. He stood out in the Peruvian league with Alianza Lima, with which he won three local championships and one international: Copa Simón Bolívar in 1976. His stage with Atlético Nacional in Colombia was the brightest of his career, winning the Colombian league and being chosen twice as the best player of the tournament, becoming an idol in the club's history. He also had an outstanding step for another Colombian giant: América de Cali, where he managed to proclaim himself national champion in 1984.

In Colombia, he became a historic star and is considered by many to be the best foreign soccer player of all time in the Colombian league.

With the Peruvian soccer team, he was part of a golden generation that won the 1975 Copa América and participated in the World Cups in Argentina 1978 (quarterfinals) and Spain 1982.

Trajectory

Beginnings

Formed in the minor divisions of Alianza Lima, Cueto was promoted to the first team in 1969 at just 16 years old, making his debut in a game against Deportivo Municipal playing as a left winger. Since then he began to alternate in the blue and white team that at that time had one of the best forwards in its history: Baylón, "Pitín" Zegarra, "Perico" León, Cubillas and "Babalú" Martínez. In 1971 Alianza Lima obtained the runner-up position and Cueto, at only nineteen years old, clearly stood out as the main spare part of the team.

Pass through the José Gálvez and Municipal streets

Given the need to have more continuity, and he could not do it in Alianza Lima due to the presence of established players, he accepted an advantageous contract proposed to him by José Gálvez FBC from Chimbote, a recently promoted team but then enjoying solvency economically due to the rise of the fishing industry in Peru. With the Chimbotano team, he qualified for the final league of the Peruvian soccer league in 1972, already playing as a midfielder, showing outstanding performance and standing out along with other top-level players who also played on that team, such as Luis La Fuente. and Ottorino Sartor.

In 1973 Cueto signed for Deportivo Municipal and had a very irregular year due to the club's financial problems.

Return to the Alliance

In 1974 he returned to Alianza Lima, and in 1975 the Poeta de la Zurda took off definitively, not only because he became the team's manager but because he won the championship and was called up to the Peruvian soccer team.

The campaign of the intimate team, directed by Marcos Calderón, was outstanding: of 39 games played, they reached 22 wins, 13 draws and only 4 losses, totaling 57 points in the standings, six more than Alfonso Ugarte from Puno. That team stood out for the talent and ability of Cueto, the personality and strength of José Velásquez and the accompaniment of good players like Gonzales Ganoza, Jaime Duarte and Augusto Palacios, among others.

In 1976, he was part of Alianza Lima's first official international title, by winning the 1976 Simón Bolívar Cup, where figures such as José Velásquez and José Gonzales Ganoza stood out with him. They also played in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores that same year.

In 1977 Alianza Lima formed what for many connoisseurs is the best team in its history. In it were, in addition to César Cueto, great figures such as Hugo Sotil, Teófilo Cubillas and José Velásquez. The team won the Peruvian soccer league that year, disputing the championship inch by inch with Sporting Cristal, which also had a powerful team at that time. Precisely against the sky-blue team, César Cueto scored one of the most beautiful goals that Peruvian fans remember; When he was near midfield, he looked at goalkeeper Ramón Quiroga in advance, and, without much thought, he took a lobbed shot that beat Loco.That season Alianza Lima would endorse Universitario de Deportes, his eternal rival, a resounding 6-1. At the end of the season, the team would leave for the memory a feast of plays, walls, anthology goals and the Olympic return against the eternal rival.

In 1978, Alianza Lima, showing the same quality, obtained the two-time championship, although with a little more difficulty. Over time he is recognized as one of the great idols of the club, occupying a privileged place alongside other greats such as Teófilo Cubillas or Alejandro Villanueva.

Success in Colombia

In 1979 he signed for Atlético Nacional de Medellín. Based on skill, magic and dexterity, he already earned the love and respect of the Colombian people in his first season, despite the fact that his team did not occupy a prominent position. A year later, they reached fourth place, but their final consecration came in 1981 when they finally won the long-awaited title. That was also his best season with the green box, since in addition to the title, Cueto was not only the driver, captain and scorer of the team (17 goals) but the best player in the Colombian championship. All the media highlighted his talent and quality: they recognized that his left foot worked magic, in short plays, in long passes and in goals.

In 1984, already thirty-two years old, Cueto went on to play for América de Cali and won the championship that year with the Cali team, being the team's captain and driver. He spent just one season with the team scarlet, but his talent, skill and "surgical" passes left an indelible mark on the memory of his followers, to the point of being considered one of the best in his history. In 1985 he did not have a team, so he dedicated himself fully to the Peruvian team that played the qualifiers for the World Cup in Mexico 86.

He would later have a brief stint at Deportivo Pereira in 1986 and at Cúcuta Deportivo in 1987, showing flashes of his great quality in both teams.

Definitive return

In 1987, after the Ventanilla tragedy, Cueto dressed again in shorts to help his club and pay tribute to the relatives of the victims. He was in Alianza again for a season. In 1988 he won decentralized B. A free kick goal in a 1988 classic against goalkeeper Chávez Riva from Universitario stands out. In August 1988, he reinforced the Sporting Cristal club to play the Marlboro Cup, which he obtained after beating Benfica and Barcelona from Guayaquil. Cueto's last years in professional soccer were marked by constant returns and farewells that officially culminated in 1991. From then on, Cueto has participated in countless charity and friendly matches, demonstrating his great quality.

National team

In total, Cueto has played forty-seven games with the Inca team, scoring six goals.

The debut with the Blanquirroja

He made his debut for the Peruvian national team in a 3-0 victory over Bolivia in the 1972 Copa Independencia in Brazil. However, Peru was eliminated in the first round. Subsequently, he was called up to the Peru soccer team that won the 1975 Copa América. In the first phase, Cueto scored a goal in a 3-1 victory over Bolivia, then an injury prevented him from continuing to play in the tournament.

Soccer World Cup 1978

Cueto did not participate in the qualifiers for the 1978 Soccer World Cup, but he did participate in the World Cup, where he was a starting player. In the first match, he scored the equalizer for Peru against Scotland, which had gone ahead on the scoreboard. Teófilo Cubillas would score both goals with which Peru won 3-1. Then would come the tie with the Netherlands 0-0 and the win against Iran 4-1.

In these three games, Cueto was brilliant in midfield along with Teófilo Cubillas and José Velásquez. International sports critics described Peru's midfield as the best in the first phase of the World Cup. However, in the second phase, Peru would lower its level and end the World Cup in a disappointing way, to be forgotten. Apparently the deficient physical preparation of the team prevented it from maintaining the same level in the final instances.

1981 Playoffs

Under the baton of the Brazilian Elba de Padua Lima «Tim», Peru formed, in the first half of the 80s, one of its best teams of all time. On that occasion, Peru showed elegant, skilful and forceful football, it was much better than its rivals, almost all of them shone: Héctor Chumpitaz and Rubén Díaz for their security in the back, José Velásquez for his temperament, Julio César Uribe for his dribbling, Juan Carlos Oblitas for his intelligence in attack, Guillermo La Rosa for his forcefulness and opportunism against the rival goal and César Cueto, the Maestro, for his imagination to create, as many times as he wanted, the best dangerous plays for his team.

Peru began the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Colombia in Bogotá, then beat Uruguay 2-1 at the Centenario de Montevideo, Colombia 2-0 in Lima, closing with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay in Lime.

The tour of three continents

Preparing for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, the Peruvian team toured the United States, Europe and Africa. After a bad start against the New York Cosmos where Cueto got into a fight with Johan Neeskens in a pitched battle between both teams, the Peruvian team traveled to Europe and reaped many victories, highlighting the 2-1 defeat of Hungary in Budapest and the 1-0 win over Michel Platini's mighty France at the Parc des Princes in Paris. That night, Cueto was inspired and squandered all his talent, together with Julio César Uribe they gave a concert of dribbling, masterful passes and good football against the French. Precisely a masterful pass from Poeta de la Zurda allowed Juan Carlos Oblitas to score the winning goal. Three days later, he would score a goal from almost 30 meters against the Algerian team to achieve a 1-1 draw against the good African team that he would have a great performance in the World Cup.

Football World Cup 1982

After what was shown in the qualifiers and on the European tour, Peru arrived with the expectation of reaching the final instances of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, confident in the great team they had and supported by Cueto's talent. However, the results were not as expected: 0-0 with Cameroon, 1-1 against Italy, which would reach the world title, and a 1-5 defeat against Poland, causing great disappointment in their country. Some media even mentioned that the division of the group and the internal fights determined the elimination of Peru. But César Cueto denied everything, considering that, due to advertising contracts, the team played too many preparatory games and arrived at the World Cup worn out. Cueto's participation in the World Cup was disappointing, to the point that the coach of the Peruvian team, Elba de Padua Lima «Tim», declared that: «I will go to my grave without knowing why Cueto did not make a good pass». (13)

1986 World Cup Qualifiers

Three years later another qualifying stage began. For connoisseurs, Peru presented the last good team in its history. César Cueto played through that entire process, scoring a goal against Venezuela, but the results did not accompany the Peruvian team. A loss to Colombia forced Peru to have to win the final two games against the powerful Argentine team to qualify.

In the first match, Peru beat Maradona's team 1-0, Cueto would play a great match. Then, in the defining match played in Buenos Aires, Peru, led by César Cueto, he gave one of his last great performances. El Poeta de la Zurda, on a bright afternoon, got tired of creating danger, and in one of his most outstanding plays he eluded two rivals (including Diego Maradona), passed through the middle of two other Argentines with the ball under control and then enable, with a masterful assist that passed between Daniel Passarella and Enzo Trossero, Gerónimo Barbadillo, who finally scored the second Peruvian goal. Later, Argentina tied with nine minutes remaining and sent Peru to the playoff against Chile, whose team left the Blanquirroja out of the World Cup. In the words of the Uruguayan journalist Emilio Lafferranderie, El Veco, Cueto would defeat the laws of physics by performing such an extraordinary move.

Matches after retirement

Although he retired from playing soccer in 1991, Cueto would play friendlies where Alianza Lima vs. Real Madrid in 1996, where he stood out for his colorful passes and plays. In 1997, he played an international friendly with the Peruvian soccer team, in which he assisted José Pereda in Peru's first goal against Colombia, when he was already 45 years old, an age record that is maintained to this day in international matches of the Peru adult team.

El Poeta de la Zurda is for connoisseurs and those who saw him play one of the great soccer players in the history of Peru and at the same time one of the best in the history of Colombian soccer. For the Uruguayan journalist Emilio Lafferranderie, El Veco, César Cueto was badly sold to Colombia, since his quality was in his opinion on a par with that of Ricardo Bochini and Michel Platini, referents of his time.

Participations in playoffs

Elimination	Headquarters	Selection	Parties	Goles
South American Eliminators 1982	Peru	3.o (classified)	4	0
South American Eliminators 1986	Peru	4.oHe didn't qualify.)	8	1
Total in eliminations			12	1

Participations in World Cups

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles	Assistance
1978 Football World Cup	Argentina	Final rooms	6	1	1
1982 World Cup Soccer	Spain	First phase	3	0	0
Total in World Cups			9	1	1

Participations in America's Cups

Cup	Headquarters	Outcome	PJ	Goles	Average score
Copa America 1975	No fixed headquarters	Champion	1	1	1,00
Copa America 1979	No fixed headquarters	Third post	2	0	0.00
Total in Copas América			3	1	0.33

Clubs

National Championships

Club	Country	Year	Parties
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1969-1971	20	3
José Gálvez		1972	42	R9?
Municipal Sports		1973-1974	68	?
Alliance Lima		1975-1979	83	25
National athletic	ColombiaColombia	1979-1983	158	46
Americas of Cali		1984	34	7
Pereira		1986	18	4
Sports		1987	11	3
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1988-1991	61	13
Total		1969-1991	495	128

Libertadores Cup

Equipment	Seasons	Parties	Goles
Club Alianza Lima	1972	3	0
	1976	9	2
	1978	10	3
	1979	6	0
Americas of Cali	1984	2	2
TOTAL	1972-1984	30	7

Simon Bolivar Cup

Equipment	Seasons	Parties	Goles
Club Alianza Lima	1976	1	0
TOTAL	1976	1	0

Honours of Prizes

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
First division	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1975
First division			1977
First division			1978
First division	National athletic	ColombiaColombia	1981
First division	Americas of Cali		1984

Zonal tournaments

Title		Club	Country	Year
Metropolitan Tournament		Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1989
Metropolitan Tournament				1990

International Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
Copa America	Peruvian team	No fixed headquarters	1975
Simón Bolívar Cup	Club Alianza Lima	Peru Peru	1976

Individual awards