José Paolo Guerrero

Football player infobox
playername = José Paolo Guerrero


fullname = José Paolo Guerrero Gonzales
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1984|1|1
cityofbirth = Lima
countryofbirth = Peru
height = height|metres=1.84
currentclub = Hamburger SV
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
youthyears = 1992–2002
2002–2003
youthclubs = Alianza Lima
Bayern Munich
years = 2002–2004
2004–2006
2006–
clubs = Bayern Munich II
Bayern Munich
Hamburger SV
caps(goals) = 66 (45)
27 (10)
54 (16)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Peru
nationalcaps(goals) = 24 0(9)
pcupdate = 17:34, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 17:34, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

José Paolo Guerrero Gonzales (born January 1, 1984 in Lima) is a Peruvian professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Hamburger SV and Peru. He started playing football in the lower categories of Peruvian club Alianza Lima, where he scored more than 200 goals. In 2002, Guerrero signed a contract with Bavarian giants Bayern Munich. During 2003–04, Guerrero played in the Regionalliga Süd. He played 23 games and scored 21 goals. During the 2004–05 season, he joined fellow countryman, Claudio Pizarro, on the Bayern first team. In June 2006, it was announced that Guerrero had transferred to Hamburger SV, and signed a contract with the club through 2010. [cite web | url = http://kicker.de/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/350967/ | title = Guerrero wechselt zum HSV | accessdate = 2008-05-11 | date = 2006-06-14 | language = German | publisher = kicker.de] He scored the winner against his former club Bayern Munich, which he did not celebrate because of his past with the club and the care he still feels for it. The result meant that Bayern had no chance of playing in the Champions League in the 2007–08 season.

Hamburger SV

Guerrero joined Hamburg in 2006 from Bayern Munich. 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 3 goals, making his season total 5 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 07/08 season, his second at Hamburg, Guerrero played 29 of 34 games in the Bundesliga, scoring 9 goals and getting 4 assists, as well as becoming an undisputed starter and a vital part of Hamburg. He was the 3rd top scorer, behind Rafael van der Vaart (12 goals) and Ivica Olic (14 goals). In the Uefa Cup and Qualification he played 9 games, scoring 5 goals and getting 3 assists. His first hat-trick in his professional career was against Karlsruher SC, in the last game of the Bundesliga, scoring the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th goals in a 7-0 victory. This victory secured them 4th place and a UEFA Cup spot for next season. By the beginning of the Bundesliga 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.

International career

Paolo Guerrero's career with the Peruvian national team began in the doomed Germany 2006 campaign, but he managed to score twice for the national side. His first goal became the winner against Chile in Lima's Estadio Nacional. It was followed by a first minute goal in the next match against Ecuador in the same venue, though the Ecuadorians fought back to secure a 2-2 away draw. Despite that setback, Guerrero's goals provided hungry fans with hints of things to come when the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign begins. However, Guerrero was ruled out of Peru's first two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying games because of injury. So far in the South Africa 2010 Qualifiers Guerrero's impact has been limited. A further blow to Peru was laid down by FIFA when Guerrero was suspended 6 games for insulting the referee during the Uruguay vs. Peru game in June 2008. The suspension started with the Peru vs. Venezuela game in September.

Peruvian Pride

Paolo Guerrero is considered one of the best players on the Peru national football team and is the top, still active, scorer. He does honor to his surname Guerrero, which in Spanish means “Warrior”, every time he steps on the pitch. He never gives up on loose balls without at least fighting for it. He shows courage and fighting spirit at all times, and gives it 110% for his country. This has been epitomized several times, such as when he scored three out of Peru's four goals in friendlies against Colombia and Bolivia, both of the goals against Colombia were tying goals, the second of which was in the last ten seconds of the game. When he was ruled out of Peru's first two 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying matches he was deeply saddened and expressed regret over not being able to play. Playing could have worsened his injury and extended his recuperation time to two months. He immediately started a rigorous recuperation phase so he could be in top form for the matches against Brazil and Ecuador on November 17 and 21, respectively.

Copa America 2007

Peru debuted with a shock win over Uruguay, winning 3-0 with Guerrero scoring the third goal. He scored another goal in this match but it was controversially annulled because of an incorrect call of offside on Claudio Pizarro. [cite web | url = http://youtube.com/watch?v=_LG3CXNpAmU | title = Copa America 2007: Peru 3 - Uruguay 0 (original audio) | work = youtube | accessdate = 2008-05-11 | date = 2007-06-29]

Honors

Personal Honors
*Top scorer in Regionalliga Süd – 21 goals in 23 games
*Best Peruvian football player in Copa America 2007

Team Honors
*Regionalliga Süd champion – FC Bayern Munich II
*Bolivarian Games of 2001 – Peru U-17 National Football Team
*Bundesliga champion 2004–05 – FC Bayern Munich
*Bundesliga champion 2005–06 – FC Bayern Munich
*DFB-Pokal champion 2005 – FC Bayern Munich
*DFB-Pokal champion 2006 – FC Bayern Munich

References

External links

* [http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=15861 Hamburger SV - Guerrero Nº 9]
* [http://footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=864&pn=José_Paolo_Guerrero_Gonzales José Paolo Guerrero Profile & Stats] at FootballDatabase