David Pizarro

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David Pizarro bigraphy, stories - Professional footballer

David Pizarro : biography

11 September 1979 –

David Marcelo Pizarro Cortés (born 11 September 1979) is a Chilean football midfielder who currently plays for Fiorentina in the Serie A. He is known for his vision, passing, dribbling skills and set piece ability.

He played for the Chile national team, for which he won the Bronze medal at 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney. Pizarro is a central midfielder, who can operate in a holding position or an attacking position in the hole behind the strikers.

During Pizarro’s stay in Italian football, he won one Serie A title (2005-06), three Coppa Italia titles and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. Pizarro’s Italian nickname is "Pek", diminutive of "pequeño", meaning "small" in Spanish, because of his short height (1.70 meters).

International career

Pizarro began his international career in 1999. After being one of the best players of the South American Youth Championship that year, Chile manager Nelson Acosta gave him an opportunity in the senior team.

He played in the 1999 Copa America and also the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal. He also participated in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup qualifiers, with Chile failing to qualify on both occasions.

After failing to qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Pizarro announced his retirement from international football, listing several reasons for his decision. He disliked ex-coach Juvenal Olmos and ex-association president Reinaldo Sánchez. Also, he believed the players on the national team played solely to gain popularity. He also said he wished to spend more time with his family..

On May 20th, 2013 he was called up to the national team for the Brazil 2014 qualifiers, returning to the Chile national squad after having meetings with head coach Jorge Sampaoli. Thus ending an eight-year absence from international football.http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/pizarro-returns-chile-squad-eight-absence-221913653.html

Club career

Early career

Pizarro started his career as a midfielder with the Santiago Wanderers in Valparaíso, Chile.

Pizarro first played European football with Udinese in Serie A. From there, he was loaned to South American team Universidad de Chile where he debuted in the Copa Libertadores.

He played well with Udinese under the guidance of coach Luciano Spalletti.

Internazionale

On 14 July 2005, Pizarro was transferred to F.C. Internazionale Milano for a reported fee of €10 million (plus half of Goran Pandev rights, which Lazio bought it a year later for €4million) on a four−year deal. At the time, Pizarro claimed that he wanted to retire in the Nerazzurri shirt. However, Pizarro was on the bench on many occasions, because of competition for his position with the Argentine star Juan Sebastián Verón.

During his only season with Internazionale, Pizarro won the Italian championship, the Supercoppa Italiana, and the Coppa Italia.

AS Roma

On 19 August 2006, A.S. Roma acquired the 50% of Pizarro’s transfer card and he signed a four-year contract with the team of a transfer fee of €6.5 million in a co-ownership deal. After Pizarro’s arrival to the team, Pizarro wore the number 7 shirt and he was under his former coach in Udinese Calcio, Luciano Spalletti.

On 12 September 2006, Pizarro scored his official goal for the team in a 4–0 Champions League victory over Shaktar Donetsk at 89th minute. Five days later, he scored his second consecutive goal for the Serie A against AC Siena in a 3–1 victory. He helped to Roma to win the Coppa Italia 2006-07 title, being one of top–scorers of the team with three goals. On 20 June 2007, Roma announced that paid €5.750.000 million to Internazionale over the next three seasons for the remaining of Pizarro in AS Roma, who had played an important role in the club’s last season.

In Roma’s next season, Pizarro was a undisputed titular with Daniele De Rossi on Spalletti’s squad. He scored his season goal against SSC Napoli in a 4–4 draw for Serie A. After of the qualifying of Roma to the Round of 16 in UEFA Champions League 2007-08, Pizarro scored an important goal against Real Madrid at 24th minute, in a 2–1 Roma’s victory. Shortly after, Roma were eliminated against Manchester United F.C. in the quarterfinals. Pizarro proclaimed once champion of Coppa Italia, now in the 2007-08 season, newly beating to Inter Milan.