Edison Flores


Edison Michael Flores Peralta is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Peruvian Liga 1 club Universitario de Deportes and the Peru national team.
Flores began his career in the youth ranks of Lima club Universitario de Deportes. In 2011, at the age of 17, he helped Universitario win the U-20 Copa Libertadores and was named best player of the tournament.
With the national team, Flores participated at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and was the joint-top scorer for Peru in the qualifiers for said competition, with five goals. He also played at three Copa América tournaments in 2016, 2019 and 2024, helping Peru finish as runners-up in 2019.

Club career

Universitario de Deportes

Flores played in the youth ranks of Universitario de Deportes from 2008 to 2011. In March 2011, at the age of 16, he was promoted to the first team under manager José del Solar. He was part of the U-20 Universitario team that won the 2011 U-20 Copa Libertadores and was named best player of the tournament. He made his official league debut in the Torneo Descentralizado on 31 July 2011 in an away match against Juan Aurich for matchday 16 of the 2011 season, at the age of 17. He entered the game in the 64th minute for Andy Polo, and the final result was 1–0 in favor of Aurich. Later, in matchday 23, he played his first Peruvian Clásico in the Descentralizado on 24 September 2011, at home in the Monumental. At the time, Alianza Lima was in first place in the league. He entered the match in the 68th minute for Miguel Angel Torres when the score was tied at 1–1. Then in the 92nd minute of the derby, Flores dribbled past three Alianza Lima players and provide the pass that led to Martin Morel's winning goal. The derby finished in a 2–1 win for Universitario.
The following season, he scored his first professional goal on matchday 14, in a 2–1 victory against León de Huanuco. On matchday 23, he scored from a header in the Clásico in a 2–1 victory.

Villarreal and return to Universitario

On 31 August 2012, Flores was announced as the new signing for Villarreal's reserve team, Villarreal B. He played his first game for the club in a 1–0 victory against CF Badalona, and scored his first goal in a 1–1 tie against Levante B. In March 2014, Villareal announced that Flores would be transferred to Universitario. After his return, he played the 2014 Copa Libertadores group stage and finished the year with 3 goals in 22 matches. In the 2016 season, he was a key part of an offensive quartet that also included Andy Polo, Raúl Ruidíaz and Diego Guastavino, which won the 2016 Torneo Apertura, after a 0–1 away victory against Sporting Cristal. The game was won due to an overhead kick goal by Flores.

Aalborg BK

On 11 August 2016, Flores move to Danish-side Aalborg BK was confirmed. After interest from Belgian, Dutch and Spanish sides, Flores signed a 4-year deal. He made his debut on 15 August 2016, in a 2–1 home victory against Esbjerg fB. On 28 August 2016, he scored his first goal in the Danish Superliga, as he provided the equalizing goal in a 2–1-win against Aarhus Gymnastikforening. Flores played 18 league matches in his first season, scoring one goal, and also scored once in two matches in the Danish Cup, before his club was eliminated by Midtjylland in the quarter-finals.

Morelia

In 2018, Edison move to Mexican legendary club Monarcas Morelia was confirmed. The Mexican team announced Edison as their new player on a four-year deal.

D.C. United

On 14 January 2020, D.C. United acquired Flores paying a club-record $5 million transfer fee. Flores debuted on 29 February 2020, in a 1–2 loss against the Colorado Rapids. In late August, Flores suffered a head-on-head collision and was out 6 weeks to repair facial fractures. He returned from his injury on 11 October 2020, in a 1–2 loss against the Chicago Fire. On 1 November 2020, Flores contributed his first assists for the team, providing two in a 3–4 loss against the New England Revolution. Flores finished D.C. United's disappointing 2020 season with 13 appearances and three assists.
Flores scored his first MLS goal on 13 May 2021, securing a 1–0 win over the Chicago Fire. On 23 May, Flores suffered a hamstring injury during a match against the Philadelphia Union, which he returned from in mid-August.

Second return to Universitario

One of the most iconic moments of his return, was his goal against Alianza Lima, to win the Peruvian championship for the first time in 10 years. Edinson Flores would then score two of the four winning goals for Universitario to win the "Apertura" tournament against Chankas.

International career

He had played for all youth level of Peru, and was part of U-20 squad in the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship, where he left a great mark in his career. In the final match against U-20 Chile, which Peru had to win and eliminate Chile to qualify for 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he scored from a header to put Peru a lead. However, his side could not protect this advantage because of a superb free kick from Bryan Rabello which levelled the game. It eventually ended 1–1 and Chile qualified at the expense of Peru, but Flores' performance impressed then-manager Sergio Markarián and he was called to the senior squad for the first time in perpetration for the friendly against South Korea and the remaining matches of 2014 World Cup qualifying, but he only made his debut in the friendly against South Korea. Peru's failures to qualify for both U-20 and senior World Cup had been a dark mark on his career and he became less used.
Under Ricardo Gareca, he was mostly ignored and not included in the final 23 of Peruvian squad for the 2015 Copa América held in Chile. After the competition, his performance at the national league got attracted to Gareca and subsequently, Flores was summoned by Gareca for the Copa América Centenario held in the United States. He left a great landmark in the team on his maiden major competition debut, scoring one goal against Ecuador in a 2–2 draw. Although he didn't score other goal than the one he netted to Ecuador, he helped Peru to top the group and eliminated Brazil in process. His impressive performance made him a new star of Peru and he was frequently selected for Peru's remaining 2018 World Cup campaign, where he laid history in helping Peru to qualify for the World Cup after 36 years absence.
In May 2018, he was named in Peru's provisional 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In Peru's second game during the 2019 Copa America, he scored a goal in the 3–1 victory over Bolivia. In the quarterfinals, he scored the winning penalty against Uruguay in the penalty shootout, and sent his team to the semifinals. He scored the first goal against Chile in the semi-finals to send Peru into the finals against Brazil.File:07 07 2019 Final da Copa América 2019 .jpg|thumb|right|250px|Flores with Peru at the 2019 Copa América

Personal life

On 21 December 2019, he married his long time girlfriend Ana Siucho in a televised wedding.
He is of African and Quechua origins and, alongside teammate Renato Tapia, have been working to promote the indigenous culture of Peruvian Quechua people.

Career statistics

Club

International

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
123 May 2016Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru53–04–0Friendly
28 June 2016University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, United States82–02–2Copa América Centenario
311 October 2016Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos, Santiago, Chile141–11–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
410 November 2016Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay152–14–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
528 March 2017Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru172–12–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
614 June 2017Estadio Monumental Virgen de Chapi, Arequipa, Peru191–03–1Friendly
731 August 2017Estadio Monumental "U", Lima, Peru201–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
85 September 2017Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador211–02–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
923 March 2018Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, United States262–02–0Friendly
1016 October 2018Rentschler Field, East Hartford, United States361–11–1Friendly
1120 November 2018Estadio Monumental Virgen de Chapi, Arequipa, Peru381–02–3Friendly
1218 June 2019Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil433–13–12019 Copa América
133 July 2019Arena do Grêmio, Porto Alegre, Brazil461–03–02019 Copa América
1428 January 2022Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia591–01–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification
151 February 2022Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru601–11–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
1614 June 2024Subaru Park, Chester, United States731–01–0Friendly
1720 March 2025Estadio Nacional de Lima, Lima, Peru813–13–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification