David Marcelo Pizarro Cortés (born 11 September 1979) is a Chilean former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who last played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Chilean Primera División

club Universidad de Chile Club Universidad de Chile () is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile, that plays in the Primera División. Founded on 24 May 1927, Universidad de Chile is one of the most successful and popular football clubs in Chile, havin ...

. He is usually deployed as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, although he can also operate in a holding role in front of the back-line, in a more attacking position in the hole behind the strikers, or even as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

. An intelligent and technically gifted player, who possesses significant physical strength in spite of his diminutive stature, and an ability to dictate play in midfield, Pizarro is known in particular for his vision, range of passing,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, and ability from

set pieces "Set Pieces" is the first EP release by Canadian indie band Braids A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. ...

. Pizarro began his career in Chile with

Santiago Wanderers Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a football club based in Valparaíso, a founding member of the Chilean Football Federation. Their home ground, Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, is in the north-west of the city. Wanderers have played their ...

, and later also played for Universidad de Chile in his home country; he later had spells with several Italian clubs, and also briefly played on loan with English side

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 2012, before returning to Chile in 2015. During his stay in Italian football, he won one

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

title ( 2005–06), three

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

titles and two

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

titles, while playing for

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

; he also played for

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

during his time in Italy. His Italian nickname is "''Pek''", diminutive of "''pequeño''", meaning "small" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, because of his short stature (1.68 metres). Pizarro played for the Chile national team, with which he won the bronze medal at

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and played at two

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments. He made his full debut in 1999, playing at that year's Copa América, and was part of the Chilean squad which won its first-ever tournament in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. In November 2018, he announced his retirement from professional football. His last match was on 2 December 2018, as a captain of Universidad de Chile, against

Curicó Unido Curicó Unido is a football club based in Curicó, Maule Region, Chile. They currently play in the Primera División, the first level of the Chilean football system. They are currently managed by Damián Muñoz. History Curicó Unido was fo ...

Club career

Early career / Inter Milan

Pizarro began his career at

in his hometown

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. After a season playing at ''Seaport Team'' since his promotion to the first-adult team in 1997, he joined

of the Italian

. In 2001, he was loaned to Chilean powerhouse

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

to gain experience. Once back in

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

, he settled as the Udinese's starting central midfielder, performing well during his five seasons there. On 14 July 2005, Pizarro joined

for a reported €10 million transfer (plus half the rights of striker

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

, whom

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

purchased one year later for €4 million) on a four-year contract. At Inter, he failed to repeat his successful campaigns at Udinese, at times being overshadowed by Argentine star

Juan Sebastián Verón Juan Sebastián Verón (; born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. A former midfielder, Verón's career started in Estudiantes, c ...

. Nonetheless, Pizarro won the 2005–06 Serie A with Inter, plus the

and

Roma

On 19 August 2006,

acquired 50% of Pizarro's rights, agreeing to a €6.5 million transfer fee for a four-year co-ownership deal. On his arrival, he chose shirt number 7 and reunited with his former head coach at Udinese, Luciano Spalletti. On 12 September 2006, Pizarro scored his first competitive goal for Roma in a 4–0

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

victory over

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

in the 89th minute. Five days later, he scored twice in a 3–1

win over

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. He also helped Roma win the 2006–07 Coppa Italia title, where was one of the team top-scorers with three goals. On 20 June 2007, Roma announced they paid Inter the remaining 50% of Pizarro's rights to keep him at the club until 2010. The next season, he was an undisputed starter with

Daniele De Rossi Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and is currently manager of side SPAL. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as ...

in midfield, making over 30 league appearances as well as in the

, where he scored a goal in a 2–1 win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

to seal the club's progression to the quarter-finals. Pizarro also won the Coppa Italia with Roma that season. In October 2009, Pizarro signed a contract extension which was to keep him at the club until June 2013. He finished the 2009–10 season with two goals and eight assists in 31 appearances, helping Roma finish second in Serie A behind eventual winners Inter.

Manchester City

On 31 January 2012, Pizarro signed for

on loan from Roma for the remainder of the 2011–12 season, reuniting his former head manager at Inter,

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Samp ...

. Pizarro made his debut four days later as an added-time substitute for Adam Johnson in City's 3–0 win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, becoming the first Chilean to play for Manchester City. On 22 February, he came off the substitutes' bench to score and had an assist against

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

as City won 4–0 in the second leg of the tie, having won 2–1 in the away leg. On 13 May 2012, Manchester City were crowned

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

champions for 2011–12 after defeating

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

3–2. However, Pizarro only made five league appearances that season, not enough for a winners' medal. His loan spell with City came to an end and returned to Roma, after which he vowed not to move again.

Fiorentina

On 9 August 2012, Pizarro transferred to

on a two-year contract. He played 83 times for Fiorentina, scoring four goals. Pizarro was an unused substitute in the 2014 Coppa Italia Final, which Fiorentina lost 3–1 to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Santiago Wanderers

Pizarro returned to Chile to join

on a two-year contract.

International career

At youth level, Pizarro represented Chile at under-17 level in the 1995 South American Championship and at under-20 level in the 1999 South American Championship. At senior level, Pizarro began his international career in 1999. After being one of the best players of the

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

that year,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

manager

Nelson Acosta Nelson Bonifacio Acosta López, nicknamed ''Pelado Acosta'' (''Bald'' Acosta), (born 12 June 1944 in Paso de los Toros, Uruguay) is a former Uruguayan-born Chilean football manager and footballer. He became a naturalized Chilean citizen in 1984 ...

gave him an opportunity in the senior team. He played in the 1999 Copa America and also the

, where he won the bronze medal. He also participated in the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

, with Chile failing to qualify on both occasions. In 2001, he made an appearance for Chile B in the friendly match against

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

on 28 December. After failing to qualifying for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

in Germany, Pizarro announced his retirement from international football, listing several reasons for his decision. He disliked ex-coach

Juvenal Olmos Juvenal Olmos (born October 4, 1962) is a Chilean football manager who is current manager of Mexican club Veracruz. Olmos was born in Santiago de Chile. His management of the Chile national team was unsuccessful, as they failed to get past the ...

and ex-association president Reinaldo Sánchez.4 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 20 May 2013, Pizarro was called up to the national team for the

2014 World Cup qualifiers The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined b ...

, returning to the Chile squad after having meetings with head coach

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach who is currently manager for Sevilla of La Liga. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli starte ...

, thus ending his eight-year absence from international football. After failing to be named to Chile's 23-man squad list for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, he was part of the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

-winning squad.

Career statistics

Source:

Club

;Notes

International

International goals

Honours

;Inter Milan *

: 2005–06 *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

;Roma *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: 2006–07, 2007–08 ;Manchester City *

: 2011–12 ;Universidad de Chile *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

: 2017 Clausura

International

* Olympic Games Bronze Medal:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizarro, David 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Valparaíso Chilean footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Chile international footballers Chile youth international footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Association football midfielders 1999 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Chile Olympic footballers of Chile Olympic medalists in football Chilean Primera División players Serie A players Premier League players Udinese Calcio players Universidad de Chile footballers Santiago Wanderers footballers Inter Milan players A.S. Roma players Manchester City F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Chilean expatriate sportspeople in England Copa América-winning players Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics