Claudio Pizarro

Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (born 3 October, 1978 in Callao, Peru) is a Peru professional football (soccer) forward. Pizarro plays for Chelsea F.C. of the Premier League and for Peru national football team, for which he has 37 caps (as of July 6 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 C.F. 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 (football) 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 FC Schalke 04 (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 Fußball-Bundesliga_2006/07 and negotiations on an extension were not making progress, with Sevilla FC, S.L. Benfica and Rangers F.C. 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.

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. 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 United F.C. as well as Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves. 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 F.C., as the holder of the shirt number 14 at Chelsea. His Chelsea F.C. 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. Currently, Pizarro has 2 starts and 3 substitute appearances for Chelsea.

International career

Claudio Pizarro is a regular for Peru national football team. 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 Copa América 2007, scoring two goals against Bolivia_national_football_team.

Honours

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