Born in Barranquilla on May 17, 1985, Teófilo Gutiérrez is considered one of the best Colombian midfielders of the 21st century. He is characterized by having a great vision of the game, he finds the spaces to enable the forwards with great passes that end in a goal cry, he is popularly known as the perfume.
He began his career at Junior de Barranquilla and due to his great performances, being the best in the team in assists and goals, he impressed many club scouts all over the world. In his first stage in the Barranquilla team, he scored 42 goals in 79 games, ‘Teo’ would become the best Colombian soccer player in 2009 and would take a very important leap in his sports career.
He signed with Trabzonspor of Turkey, in 2010, for 4 and a half million dollars, he would score 6 goals, but he did not perform well in the first semester, and he did not have the required level. ‘Teo’ never got used to Turkish soccer, the little knowledge of the language and the distance caused the Colombian to return to Barranquilla without prior notice, citing physical and health problems.
In 2011, Giovanni Moreno would recruit Gutiérrez for Racing, the Argentine team hired him for 4 million dollars and they would make a fantastic duo that gave Racing back the glory years it once had. He was a goalscorer in Argentine soccer, but he was involved in controversies such as the fight he had with the goalkeeper Sebastián Saja, where the goalkeeper claimed him for his expulsion and ‘Teo’ threatened him with a firearm, after this event the Colombian would leave from the club instantly.
During his time at River he established himself as a star player, he won the Copa Sudamericana in 2014 and the Copa Libertadores in 2015, being an undisputed figure and starter in Marcelo Gallardo’s team. In 2014 he was awarded as the best player in America for his incredible world cup with the Colombian team and for his great role with the millionaire team in international tournaments.
Teófilo Gutiérrez for 6 years decided to return to Colombian soccer. In 2017, in a new stage in Junior, he would join Jimmy Chará and form the Cha-Teo couple, this duo did not have the expected success, and was a great failure in Colombian soccer. Between 2018 and 2019, Teófilo would win the two-time league championship, a young man named Luis Diaz would be his main ally, together they managed to take Junior to a Copa Sudamericana final, unfortunately they did not win the title, but they did have a tournament not to forget.
In 2021, the Deportivo Cali sugar squad hired Teófilo Gutiérrez with the hope of getting star number 10, and being able to play the Copa Libertadores again and indeed it would be like that, ‘Teo’, Harold Preciado and John Vásquez took care of everything, they managed the away title against the revelation Deportes Tolima. The Colombian also played for teams like Rosario Central, Sporting de Portugal, Atlético Bucaramanga and Cruz Azul de México.
Teófilo despite his controversies, and not having a positive behavior in his different football facets, always proved to be a class player, he is one of the best players that has gone through Colombian football and is an idol of all the Barranquilla fans. He currently returned to Deportivo Cali to continue giving joy to the fans of this sport and the sugar team.
By Rodrigo José Morón Henríquez.