Claudio Pizarro

 

Claudio Pizarro
Personal information
Full name	Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio
Date of birth	October 3 1978 (1978--) (age 29)
Place of birth	Callao, Peru
Height	m ()
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	14
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001-2007 2007-	Deportivo Pesquero Alianza Lima Werder Bremen Bayern Munich Chelsea	041 (11) 044 (25) 056 (29) 174 (71) 007 0(1)
National team2
1999-	Peru	038 (10)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:38, 29 September 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of September 12 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (born 3 October, 1978 in Callao, Peru) is a Peruvian professional football forward. Pizarro plays for Chelsea of the English Premier League and for Peru national football team, for which he has 38 caps (as of September 12 2007).

Club career

Deportivo Pesquero

Pizarro started playing with Deportivo Pesquero, a small provincial team in the north of Peru, at the age of seventeen. He caught the eye of scouts of Cantolao, a larger club in the port city of Callao near Lima, and was invited to train with their reserve team. However, he never signed with Cantolao. Instead, at the age of nineteen, Pizarro was sold by Deportivo to Peruvian top division club Alianza Lima, with whom he made his top-flight debut.

Alianza Lima

Pizarro scored 25 goals over two seasons with Alianza Lima and was part of the Alianza team that won the Torneo Clausura of Peru in 1999. Shortly after Alianza's title triumph, Pizarro was sold to German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. Later that year, he earned his first cap for the national team of Peru.

Werder Bremen

Pizarro's 29 goals over two seasons for Werder Bremen only made the rising star of Peruvian football more coveted by managers of major European clubs. After the Bundesliga 2000-2001 season, Werder announced that it would not prevent Pizarro from moving to a bigger club, and the conflict to secure the Peruvian forward's services intensified. The media indicated that Real Madrid and FC Barcelona of Spain, Internazionale of Italy, and Werder's Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund were in the running to sign Pizarro. The most speculated transfer in Peruvian football monopolized the interest of the national and international press. After seeming destined for Spain, Pizarro ended weeks of speculation by signing for Bayern Munich on June 7 2001.

Bayern Munich

Pizarro was a key player in Bayern's Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2003.

From the first day he joined his new club, the forward had the unconditional support of their main authorities (headed by the president Franz Beckenbauer), of the technical staff and also of his team mates who received him cordially. Pizarro carried out his training with Bayern Munich without failure, so that he could assist Bayern's competing in six different tournaments in next months and to defend the titles of the Champions League / the Bundesliga. His debut could not have been more auspicious, since he scored his first goal with the Bavarian team in the fourth minute of the game against Schalke (the second date of the Bundesliga 2001-2002). The "Bomber", or sometimes called "Inca God" by the media, begun on a good foot with Bayern Munich and the projection of his career in the short and medium term continues to be very optimistic.

Pizarro's contract with the German champions expired at the end of the 2006-07 season and negotiations on an extension were not making progress, with Sevilla FC, S.L. Benfica and Glasgow Rangers ready to step in and make a move. Pizarro later rejected a contract extension offered by Bayern chairman Franz Beckenbauer, demanding an increase in pay which angered Karl-Heinz Rummenigge who was quoted saying that "Anyone wishing to earn as much as Shevchenko had better start playing like Shevchenko,"

On May 20, 2007 Bayern Munich announced Pizarro would be leaving the club.^[1]

Chelsea

On july 1 2007, Chelsea officially signed Pizarro and confirmed that he had completed his medical and agreed on personal terms to join the club on a Bosman transfer. His contract will last for four seasons until June 2011 and he will receive $5 million per year.^[2][3] He is the first Peruvian ever to sign for Chelsea. Pizarro also revealed that his decision was largely influenced by the advice of his national team team-mate Nolberto Solano, who plays in England with West Ham as well as Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves (who at the time also played for Bayern Munich). Pizarro also holds Italian citizenship (his mother being Italian), enabling him to play for Chelsea without a work permit.

Pizarro was assigned the number 14, the same number he wears for Peru, and his former shirt number at Bayern Munich. He succeeds Geremi, now at Newcastle United, as the holder of the shirt number 14 at Chelsea. His Chelsea career got off to a good start, scoring a goal on his debut on the opening weekend of the 07/08 English Premier League season.

International career

Claudio Pizarro is a regular for Peru. He recently stated he will play in the 2007 Copa América and is expected to play in the 2010 World Cup CONMEBOL qualification for the "Blanquirroja". He has stated he has no problems with the new head coach Jose del Solar as opposed to Franco Navarro's tenure as the national team head coach.

Pizarro played for Peru in the 2007 Copa América, scoring two goals against Bolivia.

Honours

• Bundesliga: 2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06
• German Cup: 2003, 2005, 2006
• FIFA Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Career stats

All-Time Club Performance

Club	Season	Domestic League		Domestic Cup		European Competition		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Chelsea	07-08	4	1	1	0	0	0	5	1
Total		0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bayern Munich	06-07	33	8	2	0	10	4	45	12
	05-06	26	11	5	5	6	1	37	17
	04-05	23	11	5	6	7	4	35	21
	03-04	31	11	4	1	7	0	42	12
	02-03	31	15	6	2	5	1	42	18
	01-02	30	15	4	0	14	4	48	19
Total		174	71	26	14	49	14	249	99
Werder Bremen	00-01	31	19			5	4	36	23
	99-00	25	10			9	3	34	13
Total		56	29			14	7	70	36
Alianza Lima	98-99	22	18					22	18
	97-98	22	7					22	7
Total		44	25					44	25
Deportivo Pesquero	96-97	16	3					16	3
	95-96	25	8					25	8
Total		41	11					41	11
Career Totals		317	136	27	14	63	21	407	171

References

External links

• Claudio Pizarro career stats at Soccerbase
• Official site

• Fan site
• Claudio Pizarro Fan site
• Spaces Msn dedicated to Claudio
• Reports on transfer to Chelsea

Chelsea F.C. – current squad
1 Čech • 3 A. Cole • 4 Makélélé • 5 Essien • 6 Carvalho • 7 Shevchenko • 8 Lampard • 9 Sidwell • 10 J. Cole • 11 Drogba • 12 Mikel • 13 Ballack • 14 Pizarro • 15 Malouda • 17 Sinclair • 18 Bridge • 20 Ferreira • 21 Kalou • 22 Ben-Haim • 23 Cudicini • 24 Wright-Phillips • 26 Terry • 33 Alex • 35 Belletti • 40 Hilário • Manager: Grant

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