Paolo Guerrero

Paolo Guerrero joined Alianza Lima's youth ranks in 1992, at seven or eight years old, alongside a young Jefferson Farfán. A dispute between the club and the player was eventually settled by FIFA, and in 2002 he left for Bayern Munich's youth setup. He spent four years with Bayern Munich II, finishing as the Regionalliga Süd's top scorer in 2003–04, before breaking into the first team in 2004 and going on to win two Bundesliga titles.

Hamburger SV paid a fee reported at €10–12 million for him in 2006, a Bundesliga record at the time. Moves to Corinthians and Flamengo in Brazil followed, and at Corinthians he scored in the final as the club won the FIFA Club World Cup. Spells at Internacional, Avaí, Racing Club and LDU Quito rounded out his career abroad, and at LDU Quito he added a Copa Sudamericana. He returned to Alianza Lima, the club where it all began, in August 2024.

His clearest mark was made in Peru's colours. Guerrero finished as his country's all-time top scorer, and he captained Peru to their first World Cup appearance in 36 years in 2018, scoring against Australia at the tournament. He was named top scorer at two Copa América tournaments, in 2011 and 2015, when Peru finished third on both occasions, and again in 2019 when Peru were runners-up.

His career was twice interrupted by doping cases. A positive test for cocaine brought a six-month ban in 2010 that cost him a World Cup, and a 2018 suspension over benzoylecgonine, traced to coca tea, was frozen by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court — a ruling that let him take the field at that year's World Cup after all.