Juan Carlos Oblitas

Juan Carlos Oblitas Saba (16 February 1951 in Mollendo, Arequipa) is a retired Peruvian footballer, who is a football manager, who is nicknamed El Ciego ("The Blind One"). Oblitas was an extraordinary outside left wing forward at the national team level for Peru back in the 1970s and 1980s.

Juan Carlos Oblitas

Personal information
Full name	Juan Carlos Oblitas Saba
Date of birth	(1951-02-16) February 16, 1951
Place of birth	Mollendo, Arequipa, Peru
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger/Forward
Youth career
1967	Universitario
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1968–1975	Universitario
1975–1976	Elche	1	(0)
1976–1977	Veracruz	59	(10)
1978–1980	Sporting Cristal
1981–1984	Sérésien	84	(15)
1984–1985	Universitario
International career
1973–1985	Peru	63	(11)
Managerial career
1987–1990	Universitario
1990–1995	Sporting Cristal
1996–1999	Peru
1999–2001	Sporting Cristal
2003	Alajuelense
2004	U. San Martín
2004–2006	LDU Quito
2007–2009	Sporting Cristal
2015–2022	Peru (technical director)
Medal record Men's football Representing Peru Copa América Winner 1975
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Oblitas and the second or maternal family name is Saba.

Biography

Juan Carlos Oblitas, el Ciego, was born in Mollendo, Arequipa on 16 February 1951. He is married to Virginia Villamarin and has three children (Gisella, Juan Fernando, and Vanessa). He has six grandchildren. His son Juan Fernando has three daughters: Paula, Ariana and Andrea.

As a player, he was a participant at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups. He obtained 64 international caps with Peru, and won the Copa América 1975. He played at the club level for Universitario and Sporting Cristal in Peru, as well as Elche in Spain, Veracruz in Mexico and R.F.C. Sérésien in Belgium.

As a manager, he won the Primera División Peruana national title with Universitario (1987) and Sporting Cristal (1994, 1995), as well as the Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol with Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito (2005). In the period 1996-99 he coached the Peru national football team, missing the 1998 World Cup finals on goal difference.

After Manuel Burga resigned following a long period of criticism, the new FPF leadership of Edwin Oviedo appointed him as technical director for the national team. There, in January 2017, he helped the new FPF leadership to design the "Minors Plan" project, with the aim to improve the youth football of Peru which has been weaker than most of other CONMEBOL nations, in order to rebuild and reform football development in Peru for the future. He also aimed to make Peru one of major youth football power in South America, hoping to achieve more frequent qualification to the FIFA U-17 and FIFA U-20 World Cups. He also helped designing the Centennial Plan 2022, with its goal is to achieve more World Cup qualification successes, and making the Peruvian youth league one of South America's strongest, as well as the construction of new FPF Academy, the Center of National Teams. ->

Titles

As a player

Season	Club	Title
1969	Universitario de Deportes	Peruvian League
1971	Universitario de Deportes	Peruvian League
1974	Universitario de Deportes	Peruvian League
1975	Peru national team	Copa America
1979	Sporting Cristal	Peruvian League
1980	Sporting Cristal	Peruvian League
1985	Universitario de Deportes	Peruvian League

As a manager

Season	Club	Title
1987	Universitario de Deportes	Peruvian League
1991	Sporting Cristal	Peruvian League
1994	Sporting Cristal	Peruvian League
1995	Sporting Cristal	Peruvian League
1999	Peru national team	Kirin Cup
2005	LDU Quito	Serie A de Ecuador

External links

• Oblitas on RSSSF-site
• Juan Carlos Oblitas at National-Football-Teams.com
• Futbol Factory profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2008-04-30) (in Spanish)