Claudio Pizarro
Peruvian striker and Bundesliga legend, all-time top scorer for Werder Bremen.
Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio (born 3 October 1978) is a Peruvian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently serving as club ambassador for Bayern Munich. He was captain of Peru's national football team, and was its fifth-highest scorer. He is the highest scorer and most successful Latin American football player in the history of German football. He is the all-time top scorer of SV Werder Bremen, the ninth top scorer in the history of Bayern Munich, and the sixth top scorer in the history of the Bundesliga, where he scored 197 goals in 490 appearances. He is also the oldest player to score a goal in the Bundesliga, at over 40 years old.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Striker; Forward
- Nationality
- Peruvian
- Key partnership
- Michael Ballack & Zé Roberto
- Notable record
- Oldest player to score in the Bundesliga (over 40)
- Status
- Retired Legend
Lore & Background
Pizarro began his professional career in Peru with Deportivo Pesquero and Alianza Lima before joining Werder Bremen in 1999. He signed for Bayern Munich in 2001, where he won multiple Bundesliga titles and domestic cups during two separate spells. He also had a stint with Chelsea F.C. in the Premier League and a season with 1. FC Köln before retiring in 2020 after a fifth spell at Werder Bremen. With the Peru national football team, Pizarro earned 85 caps and scored 20 goals. He captained Peru to third place at the 2015 Copa América and participated in the 2004 and 2007 editions of the tournament as well.
Reader's Guide
Pizarro was born to Patricia Bosio and Claudio Pizarro Dávila, a naval officer, in Callao, Peru and raised in Santiago de Surco district of Lima, Peru. He started playing in his youth in the Academia Deportiva Cantolao in Callao. Pizarro has Italian ancestry; some of his paternal great-grandparents were from Brescia, while his maternal grandparents came from Frattaminore, near Naples. He started his professional career playing with Deportivo Pesquero at age 17. His first professional match was in 1996 against Alianza Lima. He scored his first two goals two weeks later against Atletico Torino. He finished the 1996 season with three goals in 16 appearances. With Alianza Lima, he scored 25 goals over two seasons and was part of the team that ended in second position in the Torneo Apertura of Peru in 1999. He also made seven appearances in Copa Libertadores. Pizarro joined Werder Bremen in summer 1999. His first Bundesliga match was on 28 August 1999, a 1–1 draw against Hertha BSC. He scored his first Bundesliga goal on 12 September in a 5–0 victory over 1. FC Kaiserslautern. One week later, he made his first hat-trick in a 7–2 victory over VfL Wolfsburg. He ended his first Bundesliga season scoring 10 goals in 25 matches. He also made his UEFA Cup debut, scoring 3 times in 9 appearances. In his first ever match on 15 September, he scored 2 goals in a 5–0 home win over FK Bodø/Glimt. He helped Werder Bremen come back from a 3–0 first-leg loss against Olympique Lyonnais by scoring the fourth goal in a 4–0 win at Weserstadion. Pizarro's 38 goals over 2 seasons for Werder Bremen made him a rising star. After the 2000–01 season, Werder Bremen announced it would not prevent Pizarro from moving. Media indicated Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund were interested. He signed for Bayern Munich on 7 June 2001. At Bayern, he scored in the fourth minute of his second match against Schalke 04 in the 2001–02 season. In his first season, he scored 15 goals in 30 Bundesliga and 4 German Cup appearances, 4 goals in 14 Champions League appearances, one Intercontinental Cup appearance, and one UEFA Super Cup appearance. He was a key player in Bayern's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2002–03. On 30 November 2002, he appeared in his 100th Bundesliga match in a 2–0 home win over Hertha BSC.
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