Claudio Pizarro

Pizarro started his professional career playing with Deportivo Pesquero, a small provincial team in the city of Chimbote in the north of Peru, at the age of seventeen. His first professional game was in 1996 against Alianza Lima. He scored his first two goals two weeks later against Atletico Torino in the 2–1 victory of Deportivo Pesquero. He finished the 1996 season with three goals in 16 appearances.

Pizarro scored 25 goals over two seasons with Alianza Lima and was part of the Alianza team that reached second position in the Torneo Apertura of Peru in 1999. He also made seven appearances in Copa Libertadores. Shortly after his success at Alianza, Pizarro was sold to German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen. Later that year, he earned his first cap for the Peru national football team.

Pizarro has been a regular for Peru since scoring in a 2–1 defeat of Ecuador on his debut appearance in February 1999. In the same year, he represented Peru at the 1999 Copa América in Paraguay, starting all three of the team's group matches and coming on as a substitute in their quarter-final penalty shootout loss to Mexico. Pizarro has gone on to be a starting player at the 2004, 2007 and 2015 Copa América tournaments, as well as the qualifying campaigns for the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups.

Pizarro's 38 goals over two seasons for Werder Bremen made the rising star of Peruvian football more coveted by managers of major European clubs. After the 2000–01 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 Barcelona of Spain, Inter Milan 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 press. After seeming destined for Spain, Pizarro ended weeks of speculation by signing for Bayern Munich on 7 June 2001.

Pizarro was a key player in Bayern's Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2002–03 season. On 30 November 2002, Pizarro appeared in his 100th Bundesliga match in the 2–0 home win over Hertha BSC, courtesy of a Michael Ballack brace. During the 2002–03 season, he scored 15 goals in 31 appearances in the Bundesliga, two goals in six German Cup appearances, two goals in seven Champions League appearances, and two League Cup appearances.

On 23 August 2003, Pizarro scored the fastest ever goal in the history of the Peru national team 18 seconds into a 3–1 win over Mexico at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. He was later sent off along with teammate John Galliquio and Mexicans Jared Borgetti and Omar Briceño.

At the 2004 Copa América, Pizarro suffered a fractured skull when he took an elbow to the head in an on-field collision during a 3–1 win over Venezuela, which forced him out of the rest of the tournament and required extensive surgery in Germany. Under the management of Julio César Uribe, Pizarro captained Peru to the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa América, scoring two goals in a 2–2 draw against Bolivia in the final group match in Mérida.

On 20 May 2007, Bayern Munich announced Pizarro would be leaving the club. He finished the 2006–07 season with 12 goals in 45 appearances.

On 1 July 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, signing a four-year deal. He was the first Peruvian to sign for Chelsea. Pizarro also revealed that his decision was influenced by the advice of his national team teammate Nolberto Solano, who played in England with Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham United, as well as Owen Hargreaves, who at the time also played for Bayern Munich.

Pizarro was assigned the number 14, the same number he wears for Peru, and his former shirt number at Bayern Munich. He succeeded Geremi as the holder of the shirt number 14 at Chelsea. He made his debut against Manchester United in the 2007 FA Community Shield. He came on as a substitute, but then missed one of the penalties in the shootout as Chelsea lost. His Chelsea league career got off to a good start, scoring a goal on his debut on the opening weekend of the 2007–08 Premier League season against Birmingham City. However, after José Mourinho's departure, and the signing of French striker Nicolas Anelka, Pizarro found himself surplus to requirements by the then new manager Avram Grant. Pizarro did play an important role in Chelsea progressing to the fourth round of the 2008 FA Cup, by contributing to the goal which rebounded off QPR keeper Lee Camp and into the net. He then went on to score the only goal in a match against Birmingham. This meant that his only two Premier League goals in a Chelsea shirt both came in separate games against Birmingham City.

On 7 December 2007, an investigation on having introduced women and alcohol into the national squad's hotel two days before Peru's away drubbing at the hands of Ecuador (5–1) started running, and Pizarro had thus been suspended 18 months from the national team starting on the day before the match. Other Peruvian players based overseas like Jefferson Farfán and others were also suspended. Since Pizarro claimed to be innocent, he started a trial against the Peruvian Football Federation. This action alerted FIFA about the case, who warned the player not to take it to the regular judges or he could face an international ban. On 3 July 2008, after an investigation and a review of the facts, the suspension was changed to three months (from the date of appeal in April 2008) and a $10,000 fine. Pizarro served the three-month ban.

On 15 August 2008, he was loaned until the end of the season to Werder Bremen. Soon after the announcement that Pizarro would be joining the team, a large group of Werder Bremen fans lined up to buy the new Pizarro jersey showing that Pizarro is still appreciated in Bremen, seven years after leaving the club. He was assigned the number 24 jersey and scored his first goal during his loan spell in his second appearance, scoring Bremen's first goal in a 3–2 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach on 30 August. Pizarro scored Bremen's fourth goal in the club's impressive 5–2 victory over Bayern Munich on 20 September at the Allianz Arena, former Bremen teammate Tim Borowski netting both of Bayern's goals.

On 26 February 2009, Pizarro scored a second-half brace for Bremen as the club came back from 2–0 down to secure a 2–2 draw, and a 3–3 aggregate win (away goals rule), to dump A.C. Milan out of the UEFA Cup in the Round of 32. In the second-leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final clash with Italian side Udinese on 17 April, Pizarro netted once and teammate Diego notched a brace as the teams played out an exciting 3–3 draw and Bremen advanced to the semi-finals with a 6–4 aggregate victory. He netted a hat-trick on 4 May as Bremen cruised past Hannover by a score of 4–1, keeping their push for a European place alive.

Pizarro's role was fundamental in the qualification of Werder to the UEFA Cup Final, scoring a goal in Bremen's 3–2 away defeat of Hamburg on 7 May, completing a 3–3 aggregate victory over their German rivals in the semi-finals. However, with the absence of playmaker Diego from the final against Shakhtar Donetsk, Pizarro could not save the team from a 2–1 defeat after extra time to Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk on 20 May 2009 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

Pizarro was decisive and important for the club in his loan return to the Bundesliga, scoring 17 goals in just 26 Bundesliga appearances in 2008–09 for Bremen. On 18 August 2009, Pizarro signed with Werder Bremen for an undisclosed fee after impressing for Werder in the previous season. In his second season at Werder Bremen, he continued to be a top Bundesliga scorer with 16 goals. On 23 October 2010, Pizarro scored his 134th goal in the Bundesliga making him the top scoring foreign-born player in the league history after being level with Giovane Élber. He finished the 2010–11 season with 14 goals in 29 appearances. On 15 May 2012, Pizarro announced that he would leave Werder Bremen in the summer. He finished his final season with 18 goals in 29 appearances.

On 17 April 2009, Pizarro won a court victory over his national federation. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the $10,000 fine imposed on Pizarro by the Peruvian Football Association after the alleged November 2007 incident. "The facts put forward by (the federation) in relation to Pizarro were not supported by concrete evidence", sport's highest court said in a statement. Pizarro expressed his satisfaction with the final result. He explained: "I am very satisfied and feel vindicated", Pizarro said. "My honor has been restored. My family and friends have always stood by me and knew that these were all just lies that were being spread about me. But this verdict will now also give certainty to everyone who had doubts that I have always told the truth."

Pizarro is married to his teenage sweetheart, Karla Salcedo, and they have two sons, Claudio and Gianluca, and a daughter, Antonella. All three were born in Germany. Pizarro co-owns a race horse called 'Crying Lightning' with fellow professional footballer Joey Barton. In January 2011, the horse competed at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai.

On 26 May 2012, Pizarro signed a one-year deal with his former German club, Bayern Munich. On 31 October 2012, Pizarro scored two goals against Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal. In the Champions League game against Lille on 7 November, Pizarro scored a hat-trick within the first 33 minutes as Bayern crushed their French opponents 6–1. On 30 March 2013, Pizarro scored four goals, his first league goals of the Bundesliga campaign, and provided two assists for Bayern in a 9–2 win against Hamburg. On 10 April 2013, Pizarro came off the bench to score a 90th-minute goal against Juventus in the quarter-final of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, which would end in a 0–2 win for Bayern (0–4 on aggregate). Pizarro scored twice more and provided a further two assists in Bayern's 6–1 hammering of Hannover 96 on 20 April. He finished the 2012–13 season with 13 goals in 28 appearances.

On 19 April 2014, Pizarro scored in Bayern's 2–0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig, meaning he had scored against every Bundesliga club. During the 2013–14 season, he scored 10 goals in 17 Bundesliga appearances, a goal in two German Cup appearances, six Champions League appearances, a German Super Cup appearance, and a FIFA World Club Cup appearance.

On 7 September 2015, Pizarro joined Werder Bremen for the third time in his career, agreeing to a one-year contract. He was given the number 14. On 2 March 2016 Pizarro reached 10 goals for the season by netting a hat-trick in a 4–1 win away to Bayer Leverkusen. In doing so, the 37-year old broke a record which had stood for 31 years by becoming the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga. He finished the 2015–16 season. On 2 July 2017, Werder Bremen announced Pizarro's contract would not be renewed bringing an end to his third stint at the club. He finished the 2016–17 season with a goal in 19 appearances.

On 18 June 2015, Pizarro scored the only goal of Peru's 1–0 win against Venezuela in the group stage of the 2015 Copa América.

On 29 September 2017, Pizarro signed a one-year contract with 1. FC Köln. They were relegated from the Bundesliga following defeat to SC Freiburg on 28 April 2018. He finished the 2017–18 season with a goal in 16 appearances.

On 29 July 2018, Pizarro signed a one-year contract with Werder Bremen joining them for the fourth time in his career.

On 16 February 2019, with his stoppage time equaliser in the away match against Hertha BSC, Pizarro became the oldest goalscorer in the history of the Bundesliga at the age of 40 years and 136 days. This broke the record previously held since August 1996 by Miroslav Votava (aged 40 years and 121 days). His goal also saw him become the first and only player to score in 21 consecutive calendar years in the Bundesliga. On 4 May 2019, he scored his fourth Bundesliga goal of the season, a 2–2 equalizer against Borussia Dortmund; his fifth goal was deciding in the 2–1 game against RB Leipzig, raising the age record for a scorer to 40 years 227 days.

On 20 July 2019, Pizarro announced that the 2019–20 season would be his last season before retiring as a football player. In this season, he played 18 Bundesliga matches without scoring a goal. In all of these games, he came from the substitutes bench, including in his final appearance against Mainz 05 on 27 June 2020. He was no longer used in the following two relegation playoff games.

On 15 September 2020, Pizarro became an ambassador for Bayern Munich.