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Dream fulfilled. Friend of ‘La fe de Cuto’I’m beyond excited about this interview. Despite many setbacks along the way, we finally bring you the talk we had with Claudio pizarro in Germany. The ‘Bomber of the Andes’ appears like never before in front of our cameras.
Pizarro will tell the spicy anecdotes about his origins in soccer in teams like Deportivo Pesquero and Alianza Lima. In addition, he tells us what it was like to reach the European League and why he rejected an offer from Real Madrid.
Finally, he explains why he did not retire in Alianza Lima. Watch the full program, nephews, and don’t get carried away by what they say, the rest is pure smoke. We start, my people. Do not forget that faith is always the most beautiful thing in life.
WATCH THE COMPLETE PROGRAM, DON’T BE SOBERBY
How was your childhood?
Very close to the Marina. My father was a sailor, he was in a Navy school, he went to the Navy club. My dad was sent to the north of Peru, when he was 10, 11 years old. I lived there for two years, at that time I wanted to be a sailor because, in Paita, there is a very large dock and the warships anchored there. I got very involved in this topic about Marina and I liked it a lot, with time football became stronger. I also played tennis and my childhood was always linked to sports. At school I was not one of the best academically, in the end the sport was always stronger. When he returned from Paita, at the age of 13, he played tennis and soccer on a par. He won tennis tournaments. At 15 I decided that he was just still in soccer.
What is your neighborhood?
Furrow, lived a block and a half from Benavides. Before there was the Ranch, almost behind, near the Ovalo Higuereta. My parents still live there, that’s my neighborhood.
What bullshit were you doing?
We went into the Ranch a lot, we entered through a back wall and we were always in the games, killing the dogs.
Where do you start playing soccer?
Professional, in Sports fishing. In childhood, at school and at the Naval Center, which was the Navy club. We play tournaments with other schools. At the age of 13 I took a trip to Argentina with Cantolao, I played for a couple of years. From there we emerged champions in a national tournament, the final was at the National Stadium, we won 7-0. After Cantolao I start with the sub-17, there we are.
‘Goyo’ Bernales said that there were four players that he was going to take from Deportivo pesquero.
When he was in the minors division, (Roberto) Chale made it to the professional team and had a match against the minors. He said there were four players he was going to take. We were hopeful. One was Gregorio Bernales, Giovanni Valdivieso, Miguel Ángel Zagazeta and myself. The four of us went to Chimbote.
How was that coexistence?
It was a lot of fun, I remember the moments in Chimbote a lot. Somehow, they are the first friendships you make in football and you live together, you learn many things. We were playing professionally, which is what we wanted.
Does Roberto Chale make you debut as a professional?
Against Alliance. We lost 2-0, but for me playing against a team I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid was very special. Chale gave me the opportunity.
At what point did you decide to be a professional footballer?
When I was at Deportivo Pesquero I thought about playing in a big team later. He arrived as a juvenile they were Fernando Revilla, Michael Garay, Cesar ‘El Rayo’ Loyola, ‘Hummingbird’ Rodríguez, that he was my best man and cut my hair after my first game; he ‘Gato’ Purizaga, Martín Duffoo, I have played with Ricardo Bravo too, Cumapa, Francesco Manacero, I have played with ‘cracks’ of Peruvian soccer.
Debuts on March 26, 1996…
My first match with Alianza and the second match with Torino where I scored my first goal.
YOUR ARRIVAL AT LIMA ALLIANCE
In 1998, Alianza hired you…
I had the possibility of going to all 3: Alliance, Cristal and the ‘U’.
They told me that everything was already closed by the U and you didn’t want to, surely the ‘candle’ was good…
I think the ‘candle’ was from Cristal, I think, what little I remember. In the end I went to Alianza.
How was going to sign your contract?
Very special because Alianza came out champion after years, with teacher Pinto, a very special person. At 11 at night they were going to knock on the door of my house. It was never the teacher Pinto, but if the physical trainer went, ‘Osito’. They had already told me they were going to the houses. Professor Pinto had his hobbies, but he was successful with his method, which was a little exaggerated. It worked.
How were your first months?
When I arrive, I start to play and I had a pubic injury, a pubalgia. I would give myself an injection every time I played. There were days that I couldn’t train. After 6 months, I said I can’t take it anymore. I stopped and did therapies and it took me about 6 months. I started going to the gym and became like an animal, but to be a player you need to be thinner. I got fat, I had to lose weight. I came back and started playing more often.
How was the celebration of ‘captain’s salute’ born?
It’s related to the Navy and also because there was an NFL player who celebrated like that after scoring a touchdown. He stayed, people started to like him.
CLAUDIO PIZARRO AND HIS STORY WITH BREMEN
In the middle of 99, you go to Bremen.
Unfortunately, I played a year and a half in Alianza. I am left with that of not having been champion in Peruvian soccer. That is why I always said that I would like to finish my career at Alianza because it was important to me, among the things I wanted to achieve, was to become a Peruvian soccer champion. When I say that my career is over, it’s because you already have to learn to listen to your body and the body is the one that tells you ‘I can’t take it anymore’. To compete at a level, you need to recover well. If an 18-year-old boy trains like you, we can train together but he, after 2 hours, is ready to train again and you need two days. That’s why the injuries come. Besides, he had a problem with a nerve in his back. I wasn’t having fun. That’s why I said, am I going to Alianza to make a big deal and not have fun on top of that? I said no, I’m not going to have a good time. That is when you have to make decisions.
What do you remember about your debut in Bremen?
I arrived on a Thursday, did training and, on Saturday, the team played in Berlin. I went by train, hallucinated. To begin with, I would arrive at the dressing room and see fruit and chocolates to eat. In Pesquero there was not even soap. That game against Hertha we drew 1-1, I entered with 20 minutes to go. Physically it was another level, I had to adapt quickly. The second game was against Kaiserslautern, we won 5-0, they gave me the highest score, I scored my first goal, everything was extraordinary.
Did you score the best goal of your career in Bremen?
It was the most beautiful goal, the most stylized. It was complicated, the ball came from above. A very nice goal, that’s why I think it’s the best, to put it that way.
WHY DID CLAUDIO PIZARRO NOT SIGN FOR REAL MADRID?
In 2001, he signed for Bayern Munich…
When I left Alianza Lima, two European clubs appeared: Bremen and Betis from Seville. When I’m at Bremen, Bayern appear. I was in the best of Germany. When the year ended with Bremen, it was said that there were many interested teams. I went on vacations. When I return to Lima, my father and Carlos (Delgado) showed me what they had achieved. I will never forget. On a handwritten piece of paper, they put five teams: Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Juve or Arsenal or Liverpool. I stayed 3 minutes looking at the paper. She was 23 years old and the first thing one looked for was the economy. Apart from that, Bayern was the best financially, but I watched the Serie A and Bundesliga matches on channel 7. Obviously Real Madrid too, there was Beckham, Ronaldo. Analyzing the odds of playing, the biggest was Bayern. At Real, the offer was much lower, but he wasn’t going to have the chance to play as much. youI ended up deciding for Bayern.
What was the Bayern dressing room like?
Obviously you arrive a little nervous because it is a slightly bigger club. Giovane Élber, who spoke Spanish, quickly gave me his support. There was Roque Santa Cruz, too. What surprised me the most was that the training sessions were a war, they wanted to kill each other. Just as they trained, they played. Out there some had their ‘little things’, but they were very professional. In the years that I was there, from 2001 to 2006, the first time I won 3 league titles and 3 German cups.
Oliver Kahn was this bad? I was scared…
It scared many. After training with him for so long, you also have to score against him. He was a special guy, now he is calmer, more relaxed, he has changed for the better.
Who was the captain?
Stefan Effenberg, a great white man. He is now an ambassador for Bayern like me, we are working together.
HOW WAS YOUR MEETING WITH PAOLO GUERRERO IN GERMANY LIKE?
Then it comes to Paolo Guerrero.
Paolo arrived in 2003 or 2004. Obviously, as a Peruvian who had been there for a while, you know how we are. We always try to help our own and others too. For us that was important because it was going to pay off for the benefit of everyone that was the team. It arrived, we tried to fit it quickly and it fitted quickly. Besides, Paolo is a tremendous player. He started playing in the amateur and started to score a lot of goals. He then goes to the first team and starts playing with us.
What was Zé Roberto like?
It is fun. Train every day, for me it’s a little too much already. Last time, we went on a trip to Südtirol, on the Bayern bus. Every hour or hour and a half we had to stop for the driver to stretch his legs. You went out, you stretched and, suddenly, you saw a leg that was getting piqued. It was Ze Roberto. He was crazy.
Tell me one of Rafinha.
Rafinha organized some meetings at his house and had his band, the beers and they put together a very nice group. Sometimes I have gone to a couple of meetings in her house.
Have they taught you to dance samba?
No, I don’t dance samba. Paolo dances samba. Ha ha ha.
What else do you remember from that time?
That group was spectacular, we had a lot of partying. From 2012 to 2013, we won everything. We won everything and we had a party. In the field we gave up, outside we gave up. It was extraordinary, my best year in football. I had such a good time, I had so much fun and we won all three titles: The German Cup (2012-2013), the Bundesliga and the Champions League.
DO NOT MISS THE SECOND PART NEXT FRIDAY.
