Héctor Eduardo Chumpitaz Gonzáles is a former footballer from Peru. He, Teófilo Cubillas and Hugo Sotil have been some of Peru's most recognized football players. He was the captain of the Peru national football team that was victorious at Copa America 1975 and during the 1970 and 1978 World Cups. He was nicknamed El Capitán de America being selected captain of the American continent's team that played against Europe. Chumpitaz is considered one of the greatest South American defenders of all-time and was named to the list of best World Cup players of all time by Terra.com in 2006. He was elected the 35th best South American footballer of the 20th century in a poll by the IFFHS in 2000.
Career
At the age of 19, Chumpitaz joined a second division team in Peru, 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 Universitario de Deportes, where he was part of the team that won 5 Peruvian league championships. Chumpitaz captained the Universitario de Deportes side to a runner up in the Copa Libertadores 1972, losing 2-1 to Independiente of the Argentina in the final. In 1973, All-Star teams from the American and European continents played against each other in Barcelona, Spain. Soccer greats such as Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer participated in that game. Chumpitaz was selected captain of the American continent's team thus earning the nickname America's Captain. The game finishes 4-4 and in Penalty kicks, America wins 7-6. The following year, he was signed, for the first time, by an international club, when he played with the Club Atlas team in Mexico. In 1977, he went on to play for Sporting Cristal, a team he would play with until 1984. He won 3 Peruvian league championships. He became the national soccer top scoring defender of Peruvian Primera División, with 65 goals in 456 matches.
International career
On April 3 of that year, Chumpitaz played his debut game on the Peru national football team, when Peru lost to Paraguay, 1-0, in Lima. On May 16, 1965, Chumpitaz played his debut World Cup qualifier game, as Peru beat Venezuela, 1-0, in Lima. His debut international game came that year, as Peru and Venezuela held a rematch in Caracas, with Peru 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 Argentina, 2-2, on August 31, 1969 in Buenos Aires. Chumpitaz played his first World Cup game on June 2, 1970, when the Peru defeated Bulgaria, 3-2, in León, Mexico. Although Peru advanced to the quarterfinals of that World Cup, they were eliminated by Brazil on June 14 in Guadalajara, by a score of 4-2. Chumpitaz played for Peru's national team in the Brazil Independence Cup, held between June 18 and June 25, 1972, in Manaus, Brazil. He helped his team to the championship game with a 1-0 victory over Venezuela, but Peru lost in its group's final game to Yugoslavia, 2-1. In 1975, Chumpitaz played for the national team that won the Copa America held in Colombia. Chumpitaz returned to the World Cup in 1978, when Peru played for the FIFA's most heralded championship in Argentina. Peru played six games in that World Cup, winning three of them. Peru were eliminated after losing to hosts Argentina, 6-0. Chumpitaz was substituted 10 minutes into the second half of a game repeatedly mired in allegations of match-fixing to allow Argentina to qualify for the final at the expense of Brazil. Chumpitaz for his part said there was no reason for his substitution. 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.
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, for allegedly accepting US$30,000 from presidential advisor and right-hand man Vladimiro Montesinos, supposedly after joining former minister Juan Carlos Hurtado in latter's quest to become mayor of Lima in 1998, during Alberto Fujimori's presidency. After the appeals process, on April 8, 2005, the Supreme Court of Peru nullified the sentence against Chumpitaz.
