Teófilo Gutiérrez


Teófilo Antonio Gutiérrez Roncancio, known commonly as Teo, is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as second striker for Categoría Primera A club Atlético Junior.

Club career

Barranquilla FC

He began his career with Barranquilla F.C., Atlético Junior's second division team in 2006. After scoring 16 goals in 28 appearances, he was called up to Atlético Junior senior team.

Atlético Junior

In his first years with the main squad, Gutiérrez found it difficult to break into the starting eleven. He managed to score his first goal on 2 September 2007 in a match against Malaga. During Copa Mustang in 2008, he earned a spot in the starting lineup and managed to score 11 goals, finishing third place in the scoring charts, just behind Freddy Montero and Carlos Quintero and tying Adrián Ramos and Milton Rodríguez.
During Copa Mustang I 2009, Gutiérrez was in outstanding form, scoring a total of 16 goals and winning the Golden Boot of the tournament. During the playoffs, he scored six goals with hat-tricks against Cúcuta Deportivo and Envigado FC. During Copa Mustang Teo ended 2009 with 14 goals, finishing second to Jackson Martínez's 18 goals.
He was named by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the fourth world First Division top scorer of 2009, having scored 30 goals during 2009.

Trabzonspor

On 13 January 2010, Junior sold Teo to Turkish club Trabzonspor for $3 million. During his first season in Turkey, he found it difficult to adapt to a new country and style of play, which led him not being a regular on the starting eleven.
Teo began to show progress with the start of his second season in Turkey, scoring a hat trick against Bursaspor during his team's 3–0 in the Turkish Super Cup victory and earning the man of the match award. He scored two goals during his Trabzonspor debut on the Süper Lig against Ankaragücü and added two more against Sivasspor.

Racing Club

Gutiérrez moved to his country without permission of Trabzonspor or his manager claiming to have some health problems. After check-ups, doctors did not find any health problems, and on 3 February 2011, Trabzonspor accepted a bid from Racing Club of Argentina.
After performing at the top of his game for La Academia, while liking up with selección teammate Giovanni Moreno, Teo was forced to leave Racing under a cloud following an incident in which he was alleged to have threatened his team-mates with a paintball gun in the changing-room after a match against Independiente.

Lanús and Junior loans

After his untimely departure from Racing Club, Teó signed a short-term contract with Lanús for whom he would play in the Copa Libertadores. His time at Lanús was cut-short after he left Argentina for his native Barranquilla, claiming to the club that he was on international duty. When it was found that this was not the case, Lanús cancelled his contract. A six-month loan to Junior was then arranged, but Los Tiburones, who had made a considerable effort in the transfer market to reclaim the Liga Postobón title, failed to reach the finals.

Cruz Azul

Teo was sold to Mexican side Cruz Azul by 3 million USD and a salary of 1.5 Million USD per year. Despite being used as a substitute of Argentine striker Mariano Pavone for most of the season, he managed to score important goals for Cruz Azul in the Liguilla while Pavone was injured, including one in the final against América which they lost. After a six-month spell at Cruz Azul, Teó said we wanted to leave to Argentinian side River Plate, even though he initially expressed his will to stay at the Mexican club. After being separated from the first squad he was finally sold to River Plate in July 2013.

River Plate

After the relationship between Cruz Azul and Teo worsened due to the persistent interest of River Plate's coach Ramón Díaz to bring the Colombian to his squad, Cruz Azul and River Plate reached an agreement thought to be around US$3 million, which was around what Cruz Azul asked for. Teo has said that it was his all time dream to play for the Argentine squad. However, River Plate did not have sufficient funds for the player, eventually Teo made a return to Cruz Azul. A week later, the issues were thought to be resolved thanks to FIFA's involvement.
He made his debut in a 2–1 loss against Club Atlético Colón. where he scored his very first goal.
He would later be part of the team that crowned itself champion in the following tournament, scoring 6 goals.
Under the management of Marcelo Gallardo, Teo has scored 10 goals in 10 appearances in the 2014 Torneo de Transición.

Sporting Clube de Portugal

On 18 July 2015, Sporting CP announced the signing of the Colombia International. Gutiérrez signed a three-year contract with the Lisbon-based club. He scored for Sporting in a 2015–16 Champions League play-off match against CSKA Moscow.

Atlético Junior

On 26 June 2017, Teo is signed by his hometown's team Atlético Junior on a three-year deal. He made his debut in a 3-0 victory against La Equidad, scoring the third goal from the penalty spot and overally playing well the whole match. He led his team to a Copa Colombia win in 2017, scoring in the final against Independiente Medellín.

International career

Gutiérrez scored in his international debut in 2–1 on his debut Colombia victory against El Salvador in August 2009. In his third call up to the Colombian national team, he made his first competitive appearance in a qualifying game for the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Ecuador, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory.
During the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Gutiérrez scored six goals in 11 matches. In June 2014, he was named in Colombia's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals and, after the withdrawal of Radamel Falcao through injury, took the number 9 shirt for Los Cafeteros.
In the team's opening match of the tournament, Gutiérrez scored Colombia's second goal in a 3–0 win against Greece.
In May 2018 he was named in Colombia’s preliminary 35 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, he did not make the final cut to 23.

International goals

Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 August 2009Robertson Stadium, Houston, United States
1–1
2–1
Friendly
2.5 September 2009Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín, Colombia
2–0
2–0
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.3 September 2011Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States
1–0
2–0
Friendly
4.3 September 2011Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States
2–0
2–0
Friendly
5.6 September 2011Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States
1–0
2–0
Friendly
6.7 September 2012Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
2–0
4–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.7 September 2012Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
3–0
4–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.11 September 2012Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile
3–1
3–1
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.22 March 2013Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
3–0
5–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.11 June 2013Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
2–0
2–0
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.11 October 2013Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
1–3
3–3
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
12.31 May 2014Estadio Pedro Bidegain, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1–0
2–2
Friendly
13.14 June 2014Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2–0
3–0
2014 FIFA World Cup
14.14 November 2014Craven Cottage, London, England
2–1
2–1
Friendly
15.8 October 2015Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia
1–0
2–0
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Player profile

Style of play

Teo is a prolific forward, as he scores and he gets into finishing position easily, but he can also create plays and make through passes. He is said to be the most technical striker in Colombia, since he started his youth career playing as a playmaker, and has the ability to provide assists to his teammates using his superior vision. He is often the connecting link between the midfielders and the forwards.

Honours

Club

Trabzonspor
Cruz Azul
River Plate
Sporting
Junior