Newsletter October 2007

Claudio Pizarro, Peru’s national team captain, scored a goal in his debut in English football, leading Chelsea to a 3-2 win against Birmingham. Claudio knows that it will be a tough fight to keep his spot when big-money signings Didier Drogba and Adriy Shevchenko are fully fit and ready to play. “There is a lot of competition and that’s normal in a big team,” he said.

Pizarro was born in Callao, Peru’s largest port. He planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and went to college to become a naval officer. However, he soon changed his ambitions to soccer. He was in the right place at the right time when German team Werder Bremen’s scouts came to Lima while he was playing for local team Alianza Lima, where he scored 25 goals in two seasons in 1999. “Bremen had actually come to see a different player,” he said. “They had had South American players in the past and they were good for them, so they were looking for another. I was playing very well and they made me an offer.”

After two years and 29 goals in Bremen, Bayern came calling. Three league and cup doubles later, he had earned the nicknames “the bomber of the Andes”, “the commander” and occasionally “the Inca God”. Pizarro scored on his debut with Bayern, a feat which he recently repeated with Chelsea. Bayern lost against Chelsea 5-6 in the quarter finals of the Champions League in 2005.

When his contract at Bayern ran out and Chelsea came calling, Pizarro had little doubt about the move even though he had offers from Italy. “This team has the potential to win a lot of trophies and I want as many as possible. Winning the Champions League is one of my ambitions, and I couldn’t do it at Bayern. Here we have a good chance,” he said.

Source: express.co.uk

PAST NEWSLETTERS:

• Newsletter December 2007
• Newsletter November 2007
• Newsletter October 2007
• Newsletter September 2007
• Newsletter August 2007
• Newsletter July 2007
• Newsletter June 2007
• Newsletter May 2007
• Newsletter April 2007
• Newsletter March 2007
• Newsletter February 2007
• Newslette January 2007