Even at the age of 43, Claudio Pizarro hasn’t forgotten his marksmanship: he scored four goals in his farewell game at the Bremen stadium.
Claudio Pizarro on the lap of honor after his farewell game in Bremen’s Weser Stadium.
IMAGO/Nordphoto
An all-star selection from Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich as well as a team with friends Pizarros (‘Claudios Amigos’) competed in the sold-out Bremer Arena. Three games were played over 30 minutes each. Many of Pizarro’s companions did the honors, including former Werder players Johan Micoud, Tim Wiese and the 1996 European champions, Dieter Eilts and Marco Bode. Aside from Pizarro, former goalscorer Ailton received the most applause. Former attackers Arjen Robben, Giovane Elber and Mario Gomez played for FCB. World champion captain Philipp Lahm also did the honors, but was unable to play.
Pizarro: “I feel at home here”
But it was Pizarro himself who scored the first goal after less than two minutes. He scored three more goals before his very last substitution – at 7.25 p.m. it was finally over for Pizarro. “I feel at home here. I’m really happy that I played my last game here,” said the striker, who scored 197 goals for Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and 1. FC Köln in the Bundesliga.
Pizarro celebrated great successes with Bremen and especially with FC Bayern. He was German champion six times with Bayern and won the Champions League in 2013. In 2020 he ended his professional career in Bremen. Originally, his farewell game should have taken place a long time ago, but had to be postponed to this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was exhausting. I haven’t played 60 minutes for a long time.”
Pizarro moved to Werder Bremen in 1999. He stayed on the Weser until 2001, after which he played for Bayern for six years. In 2007 he moved to London, but was unable to assert himself at Chelsea. He played for Werder again on loan in 2008/09, after which he was signed by Bremen. In 2012 he switched back to FC Bayern, after three years he returned to Bremen. In 2017/18 he put in a one-year interlude at 1. FC Köln before playing for SVW again for the last two seasons.
Pizarro set a number of records during his more than 20-year Bundesliga career. With a total of 490 Bundesliga games, he is the foreign professional with by far the most Bundesliga games. Not only football was played on Saturday evening, there was also a cultural program. Jan Delay, among others, performed on stage.
