Juan del Águila (footballer)

Juan del Águila
Personal information
Full name Juan Miguel del Águila Salazar
Date of birth (1952-11-02) 2 November 1952
Place of birth Iquitos, Loreto, Peru
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1972 Deportivo Municipal
1973–1975 CNI de Iquitos
1976 Universitario de Deportes
1977–1982 CNI de Iquitos
International career
1971 Peru 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Juan Miguel del Águila Salazar (born 2 November 1952) is a retired Peruvian footballer. He played as a forward for Deportivo Municipal and Colegio Nacional Iquitos throughout the 1970s. He also represented Peru internationally for the 1971 South American U-20 Championship.

Club career

Del Águila was born in Iquitos during a time in where there the town hadn't produced any notable footballers. He began his football career with the football team of his school Gran Unidad Mariano Melgar de Lima alongside his childhood friend Augusto Palacios. Following his admittance into the youth sector of Deportivo Municipal, he'd be promoted to the senior squad for the 1969 Torneo Descentralizado and played alongside other players such as Hugo Sotil and Manuel Mellán. He'd play for La Academia until the 1972 Torneo Descentralizado as he returned to his home city of Iquitos to play for CNI de Iquitos in the subsequent season. Following a brief stint with Universitario de Deportes in their 1976 season,[1] he remained with Iquitos for the rest of his career. He'd achieve some highlights with the club such as being part of the initial winning squad of the 1977 Torneo Descentralizado as well as play in a 1–1 friendly against Unión de Santa Fe where he faced off against players such as Rubén Suñé, Hugo Gatti, Leopoldo Luque and played alongside players such as Bernabé Navarro. He'd retire at 29 years of age following the 1982 Copa Perú.[2]

International career

He represented Peru during the 1971 South American U-20 Championship after being selected from around 400 different candidates. He'd play alongside players such as Juan Carlos Oblitas, José Velásquez, Augusto Palacios, Arturo Bisseti, Moisés Palacios and César Echeandía as the team would make moderate success in the tournament, reaching the semi-finals.[2] He was also the top goalscorer for the tournament.[3]

Later life

Following his football career, he proceeded to work for Petroperú for a good portion of his life. He remains an adamant supporter and club legend for CNI following his career with his desire of seeing the club return to the top-flight of Peruvian football.[4]

References

  1. ^ "CLUB UNIVERSITARIO DE DEPORTES: Campaña 1976". Dale U Campeón (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b Herrera Soria, Raúl (5 March 2012). "Juan Miguel del Águila Salazar: Un grande del fútbol". Diario La Región (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Del Águila y la selección". Diario La Región (in Spanish). 18 July 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  4. ^ "EXJUGADOR DE CNI SUEÑA QUE FÚTBOL PROFESIONAL VUELVA A IQUITOS". Pro & Contra (in Spanish). 28 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2025.