Pizarro recalled by Peru
Reuters - Friday 18 March 2011, 10:27
LIMA - Striker Claudio Pizarro has been
recalled by Peru following an absence of more than three years
for alleged indiscipline.
The Werder Bremen striker was included by coach Sergio
Markarian in a squad which is due to play two friendlies in
Europe at the end of this month.
Fiorentina's Juan Vargas and Hamburg SV's Paolo Guerrero
were also included.
Pizarro, 32, was banned from the national team for 18 months
along with team mates Santiago Acasiete, Jefferson Farfan and
Andres Mendoza for indiscipline at the team hotel following a
World Cup qualifier against Brazil in November 2007.
His ban was later cut to three months along with those on
Farfan and Acasiete, however, he was never recalled by the then
coach Jose del Solar.
Without him, Peru floundered and finished bottom of the
qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Pizarro, who has always maintained his innocence, holds the
record for the number of Bundesliga goals scored by a foreign
player.
"I'm very moved by this as I wanted to play for the national
team again," Pizarro told Peruvian media. "I don't consider
myself an 'uncle'. I can keep playing for many years."
Peruvian football has been plagued by in-fighting among the
directors for years and the country has not qualified for a
World Cup since 1982.
Players are often accused of indiscipline but in turn
complain of harassment by the country's tabloid newspapers and
reality television shows.
Peru are due to play one friendly in Madrid on March 25
against opponents yet to be named and then face Ecuador in the
Netherlands four days later.