Argentinians who defended the Peruvian national team

Throughout the history of the Peruvian national team, five Argentinians have defended the white and red. Three were goalkeepers: Humberto Ballesteros, Ramón Quiroga, and Óscar Ibáñez. The midfielder Gustavo Tempone and the forward Ronald Baroni complete the list of 'gauchos' who were called up by the Peruvian national team.

Ramón Quiroga

In 1971, Quiroga came to Peru to play against Sporting Cristal and Universitario de Deportes in the Copa Libertadores. The following year, the team contacted Rosario Central's board to play for the Peruvian team. He also defended the colors of CNI and Universitario de Deportes.

He made his debut with the Peruvian national team on February 9, 1977, in a match against Hungary. He was an international player with the white and red in forty opportunities between 1977 and 1985. The following year, he said goodbye to professional football.

Humberto Ballesteros

In 1971, he was released from Lanús and joined Universitario de Deportes, playing alongside idol Héctor Chumpitaz. He held the record for not conceding a goal for 751 minutes. He was a member of the runner-up team in the Copa Libertadores in 1972.

Ballesteros' case is unique, as he was part of the Peruvian national team but did not make his debut wearing the national team shirt. The military government of Juan Velasco Alvarado did not allow naturalized people to defend the Peruvian colors.

Óscar Ibáñez

In 1993, he came to Peru to try out for Alianza Lima, but he didn't feel comfortable in that situation and signed with Mannucci. In 1995, he joined Deportivo Municipal, and the following year he became part of Club Universitario de Deportes.

He played fifty matches with 'la franja', making his debut in 1998 and taking over from another foreign player, Uruguayan Balerio. He played in three Copa America tournaments and represented the national team until 2005.

Gustavo Tempone

He started his career at San Lorenzo de Almagro, where he stayed until 1991 when he moved to Israeli football. In 1993, he came to Peru to play for Universitario. In addition to the crema team, he also played for other teams such as Sipesa, Alianza, Municipal, Cristal, Boys, Melgar, Cienciano, and Cesar Vallejo. He didn't have many international matches, only playing five games. He made his debut in 2000, and his last match was in 2001.

Ronald Baroni

Technically, Ronald Baroni is Peruvian. He was born in Lima, but his parents were Argentinians. He made his professional debut in Argentina, playing for Quilmes in the first division. He pursued his career outside of the country, and at the age of 25, he caught the attention of the then-president of Universitario de Deportes, Jorge Nicolini, who discovered that a very talented Peruvian player was playing for O'Higgins in Chile. In 1992, he joined the crema team and became a national champion. He also played for teams like Municipal, Porto in Portugal, and returned to the country to play for Melgar.

He made his debut for the national team in 1993, a little over a year after returning to the country. He played nineteen matches for Peru, scoring four goals as a forward, and his last match with the white and red was in 1995, when Ecuador defeated Peru (2-1).