Copa America final: Guerrero the spearhead of Peru´s unlikely charge

Paolo Guerrero was born in 1983 – eight years after Peru’s last Copa America triumph.

He had only seen them make the semi-finals once before he became a senior international, but with the striker in their ranks they have reached the last-four stage three times.

An unlikely final against Brazil will take place on Sunday, and when you add in a first World Cup appearance since 1982 in Russia last year and the fact Guerrero is La Blanquirroja’s all-time leading goalscorer it easy to understand how important he is to Peru.

Guerrero was plucked away from Alianza Lima by Bayern Munich in 2002 and won back-to-back Bundesliga and DFB-Pokals before heading to Hamburg in search of increased game time in 2006.

He struggled for goals in a less gifted team, though he got four during a run to the 2008-09 UEFA Cup semi-finals where HSV were denied a place in the showpiece by Werder Bremen.

Still, Guerrero’s next move came as a surprise. At 28 and supposedly at the peak of his powers he swapped Hamburg for Corinthians in 2012, at the time coached by Brazil boss Tite. Within six months he was a Club World Cup champion, heading in the winner for an unexpected 1-0 triumph over Chelsea.

Guerrero had spearheaded Peru’s run to the Copa America semi-finals a year prior and he did so again in 2015 – leading the scoring charts on both occasions – but his greatest achievement came in helping his country finish fifth in the mammoth CONMEBOL section of 2018 World Cup qualifying.

The delight of booking a play-off with New Zealand was short-lived, though, as Guerrero was ruled out of the matches due to a 30-day provisional suspension for failing a drugs test on October 5, 2017. He had tested positive for the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine, which he argued might have been accidentally ingested via a coca leaf in a traditional tea drink.

 

 

 

 

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Hoy es un día importante para el Perú, juega la selección, hoy soy un hincha más por que vi en cada uno de ellos que se sacaron la mugre a lo largo de esta eliminatoria para lograr el objetivo. Que dios les brinde sabiduría, fuerza y coraje para afrontar este momento tan especial. ARRIBA PERÚ! TE AMO PERÚ!!!! Estoy con ustedes en las buenas y en las malas. #fuerzamuchachos #quedioslosproteja #estoyconustedescompañeros #sabránlaverdad

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