Chile–Peru football rivalry

The football rivalry between Chile and Peru has increased in intensity since the early twentieth century. Initially, the sports authorities from both countries attempted to use football as a way to foster friendly bilateral sociopolitical relations. In 1933, a private enterprise by businessmen Waldo Sanhueza and Jack Gubbins saw the creation of the Combinado del Pacifico, a binational football team composed by Peruvian and Chilean footballers. The squad was initially composed by players from the Chilean club Colo-Colo and the Peruvian club Universitario de Deportes. After this squad was defeated 1-5 by Alianza Lima, another football club from the Peruvian capital, the team was reinforced by Alianza's goalkeeper Juan Valdivieso and creative forward Alejandro Villanueva. Nowadays, Chile v. Peru games generally tend to be very competitive and at times rough, often with players sent off. The two teams display highly contested battles that make for entertaining matches within the CONMEBOL region. In 2015, following a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match that resulted in a 3–4 Chilean victory over Peru in Lima, Chile's national team vandalized a dressing room in the Peruvian national stadium. The Chileans left behind a defiant message in the room's wall, "Respect! Through here passed America's champion!" (Respeto. Por aquí pasó el campeón de América), alluding to their victory at the 2015 Copa América. In 2017, after Chile did not qualify to the World Cup finals, Chilean lawyers accused Peru of colluding with Colombia by drawing 1-1 to eliminate Chile; a complaint later dismissed by FIFA. When Peru reached the World Cup finals, after defeating New Zealand in the qualification play-offs, the Peruvian players celebrated with chants mocking Chile's elimination; an action deemed by El Mercurio, Chile's leading news outlet, as "provocative". Chilean midfielder Marcelo Díaz and naturalized Chilean player-turned-coach Nelson Acosta have in the past dismissed the relevance of this football rivalry. In 2018, Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal declared in an interview that no rivalry existed with Peru. In 2019, nonetheless, he declared in another interview a preference for playing against Peru, stating that "against Peru it's a derby, there is much football rivalry." == National team records ==

The national football teams of Chile and Peru have a rivalry that is known in Spanish as the Clásico del Pacífico ("Pacific Derby"). CNN World Sport editor Greg Duke ranks it among the top ten football rivalries in the world. The two countries traditionally compete with each other over the rank of fourth-best national team in South America (after Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay). They also both claim to have invented the bicycle kick; Peruvians call it the chalaca, while it is the chilena in Chile and the rest of Latin America. Both sides first faced each other in the 1935 South American Championship. Since 1953, both countries have sporadically contested the friendly Copa del Pacífico ("Pacific Cup"), which is a trophy awarded to the side with the best record after a two-legged home and away match. in which they were victorious against Argentina 4–1 on spot kicks. The Peruvians would get their revenge four years later in 2019, in a 3–0 win, with Edison Flores scoring, Gabriel Arias coming off his line and making a disastrous mistake, allowing Yoshimar Yotún to strike the ball into an empty net, and Paolo Guerrero tricking Arias to put in a third and send Los Incas into their first final since 1975. == See also ==