Alberto Gallardo

Félix Alberto Gallardo Mendoza (28 November 1940 – 19 January 2001) was a Peruvian football player and manager who played as a forward. He is regarded as a renowned sprinter, possessing shooting power and an atypical physical display for Peruvian football. For years he was a renowned left wing of Sporting Cristal and the National Peruvian Team from where he launched strong shots with either of the two profiles. Because of his style of play, he was popularly known as the "Jet". He is considered one of the best Peruvian wingers of all time.

He began his career with Club Mariscal Castilla but the Bentín family, founder of Sporting Cristal, signed him for the sky-blue team and his decision resulted in the consecration of the best player in the history of the Rimense club. Gallardo played 14 seasons with Sporting Cristal, scoring 148 goals in 261 games, won the Peruvian Primera División four times and became the top scorer twice in the championship. In 1963, he stood out in the Copa América by scoring four goals and, for the following season, joined AC Milan which was the current European champion at that time. Within the team, he had little continuity and shortly after he was loaned to Cagliari Calcio where he had some regularity. In 1966, he decided to go to Brazil and joined Palmeiras. There he had his best performance abroad, managing to be a two-time Brasileirao champion as well as winning the 1966 Campeonato Paulista. During the 1970 FIFA World Cup, he scored two goals one against Bulgaria in the group stage, and another against Brazil in the quarterfinals. In addition to Teófilo Cubillas, the top Peruvian scorer in the World Cups, is the only Peruvian player to have scored more than one goal in the history of Peruvian participation in the World Cups.

He is considered the greatest idol of Sporting Cristal where he won five national championships with one of them as the technical director. He is also recognized for his great work in the lower divisions of the club, to which he dedicated a large part of his life until the day of his death. Within the Peruvian national team, he played 37 games in which he scored 11 goals, participated in the 1960 Summer Olympics, the 1963 South American Championship and the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Provided by Wikipedia