Paolo Guerrero

José Paolo Guerrero Gonzales (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse paˈolo ɣeˈreɾo ɣonˈsales]; born 1 January 1984) is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a striker for Brazilian club Flamengo and the Peru national team.
He spent his early career in Germany, formed at Bayern Munich, and later playing at Hamburger SV, amassing Bundesliga totals of 161 games and 47 goals across eight seasons. He later played in Brazil, scoring the goal which won the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup Final for Corinthians.
Since his debut in 2004, Guerrero has earned over 70 caps for Peru and is the nation's all-time top goal scorer, representing them at four Copa América tournaments. He helped them to third place in the 2011 and 2015 editions, also finishing as top scorer in both tournaments. Recently, Guerrero appeared in the 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or 59 nominees list, making him the first Peruvian football player to achieve such international recognition.

Early career

Guerrero was born in Lima. He started playing football in the lower categories of Peruvian club Alianza Lima. In 2003, Guerrero signed a contract with Bavarian giants Bayern Munich. During 2003–04, Guerrero played in the Regionalliga Süd where he scored 21 goals in 23 games. During the 2004–05 season, he joined fellow countryman, Claudio Pizarro, on the Bayern first team.

Hamburger SV

Guerrero with Hamburger SV.

In June 2006, it was announced that Guerrero had transferred to Hamburger SV and signed a contract with the club through 2010. His first season was marred by an injury, which took away half his season, and his low productivity, being a sub most of the season. Near the end, he did score three goals, making his season total five goals in 20 games. One of these goals was against former club Bayern Munich in a 1–2 victory which left Bayern with no possibilities of making it to the Champions League. In the 2007–08 season, his second at Hamburg, Guerrero played 29 of 34 games in the Bundesliga, scoring nine goals and getting four assists, as well as becoming an undisputed starter and a vital part of Hamburg. He was the third top scorer, behind Rafael van der Vaart (12 goals) and Ivica Olić (14 goals). In the UEFA Cup and Qualification, he played nine games, scoring five goals and getting three assists. His first hat-trick in his professional career was against Karlsruher SC, in the last game of the Bundesliga, scoring the second, third, and fourth goals in a 7–0 victory. This victory secured them fourth place and a UEFA Cup spot for next season. By the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Guerrero had become first choice striker for Hamburger SV. Coach Martin Jol even went as far as saying that Guerrero better not catch even a cold during the season. Guerrero was fined a club record (somewhere in the region of €50,000–100,000), in April 2010, for an incident at the end of a league game with Hannover 96, where after apparently having been abused by a Hamburg fan, Guerrero threw his drink bottle into the crowd, striking said fan in the face. The German Football Association suspended Guerrero for five league games and fined him a further €20,000.

Corinthians

David Luiz, Cássio and Guerrero (right) accepting their individual awards after the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup Final.

Guerrero joined Corinthians in 2012. He scored both of their goals in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, once in the semi-finals against Al Ahly SC and the winning goal in the final against Chelsea. In May 2013, Guerrero became the first Peruvian footballer to ever be on the cover of Placar magazine, Brazil's biggest football magazine. The cover featured Guerrero as a warrior ("guerrero" is similar to the Portuguese word "guerreiro", both meaning "warrior") fresh out of battle, with blood on his legs, and carrying a Corinthians flag.

In 2015, Guerrero and Corinthians were not able to reach a deal on the renegotiation of his contract, due to end on 15 July. His last game for Corinthians was against Fluminense on 24 May. Corinthians confirmed his release three days later.

Flamengo

Guerrero playing against Fluminense in 2016.

It was announced on 29 May 2015, that Guerrero would join Flamengo after playing for Peru in the Copa América in Chile.

He debuted for Flamengo on 8 July 2015 against Internacional with a goal and an assist. He finished his first Flamengo season with 18 appearances and 4 goals.

Guerrero's career with the Peruvian national team began in the unsuccessful 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, but he managed to score twice for the national side. His first goal was the winner against Chile in Lima's Estadio Nacional. It was followed by a first-minute goal in the next match against Ecuador at the same venue, though the Ecuadorians fought back to secure a 2–2 away draw. In the opening game of the 2007 Copa América in Mérida, Venezuela, Guerrero concluded a 3–0 win over Uruguay as Peru went on to reach the quarter-finals.

Guerrero was ruled out of Peru's first two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying games because of injury. A further blow to Peru was laid down by FIFA when Guerrero was suspended six games for insulting the referee during the match against Uruguay in June 2008. Following Peru's disastrous qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, José del Solar was replaced with Uruguayan manager Sergio Markarian and Guerrero was called up for the 2011 Copa América. In place of an injured Pizarro, Guerrero played as the team's starting striker in the competition and scored five times, making him the tournament's top scorer, one each against Uruguay and Mexico followed by a hat-trick against Venezuela in the third place play-off match which Peru won 4–1.

At the 2015 Copa América held in Chile, Guerrero scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win against Bolivia in the quarter-final in Temuco. He scored the second goal in Peru's 2–0 win over Paraguay in the third place play-off, thus helping Peru to third place at the Copa América for a second consecutive time and finishing as joint top-goalscorer with Chile's Eduardo Vargas.

Guerrero became the all-time leading goalscorer for Peru on 4 June 2016, after scoring against Haiti in a 1-0 win at the Copa América Centenario.

Guerrero in 2010.

Guerrero suffers from aviatophobia. Media reports claim his fear of flying is due to the tragic death of his uncle José González Ganoza who died in the 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster.

Guerrero's older brother, Julio Rivera Gonzalez, was also a footballer for the Peru national team who progressed through the Alianza Lima youth system. The brothers were both following in the path of their uncle who had represented Alianza Lima and the Peru national team before them.

Guerrero is Roman Catholic.

Club

FC Bayern Munich

• Bundesliga: 2004–05, 2005–06
• DFB-Pokal: 2004–05, 2005–06

Hamburger SV

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2007

Corinthians

• Campeonato Paulista: 2013
• Recopa Sudamericana 2013
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2012

International

Peru U17

• Bolivarian Games: 2001

Peru

• Copa America: Bronze 2011, Bronze 2015

Individual

• Regionalliga Süd: Top Scorer (21 goals)
• Copa America 2007: Best Peruvian Player
• Copa America 2011: Top Scorer
• Copa America 2011: Team of the Tournament
• 2012 FIFA Club World Cup: Bronze Ball for Third Best Player of the Tournament
• 2012 FIFA Club World Cup: Best Forward
• 2013 Campeonato Paulista: Best Forward
• 2013 Campeonato Paulista: Team of the Tournament
• 2014 Campeonato Paulista: Top Foreign Scorer in Corinthians history
• Copa América Top Scorer: 2015
• Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2015

• ^ "P. Guerrero". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 July 2015. 
• "2015 Copa América Stats Centre". Retrieved 1 January 2016. 
• "Copa América 2015 - Team of the tournament". Retrieved 1 January 2016. 

Club

As of 1 February 2017

International

As of 15 November 2016

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Final	Competition
1.	17 November 2004	Lima, Peru	Chile	2–1	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	30 March 2005	Lima, Peru	Ecuador	2–2	Draw	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	17 August 2005	Tacna, Peru	Chile	3–1	Win	Friendly
4.	6 September 2006	New Jersey, United States	Ecuador	1–1	Draw	Friendly
5.	7 October 2006	Viña del Mar, Chile	Chile	2–3	Loss	Friendly
6.	26 June 2007	Mérida, Venezuela	Uruguay	3–0	Win	2007 Copa América
7.	8 September 2007	Lima, Peru	Colombia	2–2	Draw	Friendly
8.	8 September 2007	Lima, Peru	Colombia	2–2	Draw	Friendly
9.	12 September 2007	Lima, Peru	Bolivia	2–0	Win	Friendly
10.	4 July 2011	San Juan, Argentina	Uruguay	1–1	Draw	2011 Copa América
11.	8 July 2011	Mendoza, Argentina	Mexico	1–0	Win	2011 Copa América
12.	23 July 2011	La Plata, Argentina	Venezuela	2–1	Win	2011 Copa América
13.	23 July 2011	La Plata, Argentina	Venezuela	3–1	Win	2011 Copa América
14.	23 July 2011	La Plata, Argentina	Venezuela	4–1	Win	2011 Copa América
15.	7 October 2011	Lima, Peru	Paraguay	2–0	Win	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.	7 October 2011	Lima, Peru	Paraguay	2–0	Win	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
17.	23 May 2012	Lima, Peru	Nigeria	1–0	Win	Friendly
18.	10 June 2012	Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	4–2	Loss	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
19.	9 September 2014	Doha, Qatar	Qatar	2–0	Win	Friendly
20.	14 November 2014	Luque, Paraguay	Paraguay	1–2	Loss	Friendly
21.	25 June 2015	Temuco, Chile	Bolivia	3–1	Win	2015 Copa América
22.	25 June 2015	Temuco, Chile	Bolivia	3–1	Win	2015 Copa América
23.	25 June 2015	Temuco, Chile	Bolivia	3–1	Win	2015 Copa América
24.	3 July 2015	Concepción, Chile	Paraguay	2–0	Win	2015 Copa América
25.	13 October 2015	Lima, Peru	Chile	3–4	Loss	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
26.	25 March 2016	Lima, Peru	Venezuela	2–2	Draw	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
27.	4 June 2016	Seattle, United States	Haiti	1–0	Win	Copa América Centenario
28.	7 October 2016	Lima, Peru	Argentina	2–2	Draw	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification