Alberto Gallardo

Beginnings

He signed for the modest Mariscal Castilla after being observed by some directors in a match played by his school in the city of Huacho and which caught his attention due to the enormous potential they saw in him. Along with his career as a footballer, he also worked as an office worker at the club since his salary was very low. Mariscal Castilla was the surprise club of the 1959 Peruvian Primera División, finishing the tournament in third place; Gallardo's good performances earned him his call-up to the Peruvian national football team that would participate in the 1960 Summer Olympics. The Bentín family who were the founders of Sporting Cristal was interested in Alberto Gallardo since before the championship ended. Thus, both reached an agreement even before his departure for the Olympic Games. Upon his return, Gallardo became part of Sporting Cristal. His debut with the Rimense club took place on 10 September 1960 in the game that Cristal beat Mariscal Sucre 3–1. Gallardo scored his first goal on 1 October against Sport Boys in a 2–2 draw. Gallardo would score five more goals that tournament.

Consecration

During the following years, Gallardo would enter the history of the Bajopontino club. In 1961, under the guidance of coach Juan Honores, Sporting Cristal had an excellent campaign with a team full of many youth players. Among them were Orlando de la Torre, Eloy Campos, Roberto Elías, Alberto Ramírez and José del Castillo. Gallardo stood out…

Gallardo was a member of the Peruvian team that participated in the 1960 Summer Olympics. His debut with the senior team occurred on 10 March 1963, 1 in the match against Brazil in the 1963 South American Championship, which ended 1–0 in favor of the cariocas. His first goal with his team occurred the following date in the 2–1 win over Argentina. He scored three more goals in the tournament and was the team's top scorer. Despite being one of the few football players playing abroad, he was not considered to play in the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. His great moment came in the 1970 World Cup Qualifiers, when he won the title again after two duels against Brazil where he scored two goals. He scored against Bolivia in La Paz which would have meant the early qualification of Peru but inexplicably annulled by referee Chechelev. Regardless, he scored in triumphant victory against Bolivia at Lima with the score of 3–0, later qualifying for the 1970 FIFA World Cup hosted in Mexico. In the 1970 World Cup, he scored two goals: one against Bulgaria in the group stage and Brazil in the quarterfinals. With his two goals, Gallardo was the second top Peruvian scorer in the World Cups, only behind Teófilo Cubillas. His last participations with the Peruvian team occurred during the Brazil Independence Cup in 1972. Gallardo scored his last goal on 11 June 1972 against Bolivia and played his last game on 25 June 1972 against Yugoslavia.

Gallardo made his debut as a coach by leading the team on an interim basis on 7 August 1977 in the match that Sporting Cristal defeated Universitario 2–1 at the Estadio Nacional where Héctor Chumpitaz also made his debut with the light blue shirt. He also led the matches against Coronel Bolognesi (0–0) and Sport Boys (1–3). Then, he went on to manage the club's lower divisions while working as an assistant to coaches Roque Gastón Máspoli, José Fernández and Marcos Calderón who would later achieve Cristal's first two-time championship in 1979 and 1980. In 1981 he continued to dedicate himself to the club's sister club known as Esther Grande de Bentín but in April of that year Marcos Calderón would switch clubs and Gallardo assumed the position of technical director of the team from May 1981 until the beginning of 1982. After José Chiarella's departure, Gallardo led the first team again in 1985 until August. At the end of July, he directed and retired another idol of the club, Alfredo Quesada. At the end of 1988, Gallardo resumed again after replacing Óscar Montalvo for the final league where Cristal became national champion. Under his direction, the team lost to Alianza Atlético (0–1), drew against Alianza Lima (1–1), Universitario (0–0) and defeated Octavio Espinoza (1–0) and Unión Huaral (1–0), proclaiming himself champion of the Torneo Descentralizado. As the winner of the contest, he played the national final of the year against Universitario, defeating them 2–1 and thus…

Alberto Gallardo was born on the Rosero Bajo Hacienda within Chincha Alta on 28 November 1940. He was the son of Víctor Gallardo Cartagena and Victoria Mendoza Zegarra. He moved to Lima with his family at the age of nine. Gallardo studied at the Colegio Puericultorio Pérez Araníbar where he began his love for football. Due to the poverty of his home country, it was very difficult for him to play sports as a child which was why he had to train much more than other young athletes to stand out in his school. The consistency in the training of Gallardo was highlighted since its inception, a topic that has generated various stories. In life, he was married to Carmen Ferreyros in 1964 and the couple had three daughters and lived in the Santa Catalina urbanization, in the La Victoria district. He died on 19 January 2001 at 6:40 p.m. after long hours of stay in intensive care at the Javier Prado Clinic due to internal bleeding caused by a ruptured spleen complicated by a severe appendicitis condition. His remains were buried in the Jardines de La Paz Cemetery in the La Molina District.