Piero Alva
Encyclopedia
Piero Alva is a Peru
vian international football striker
. He currently plays for Sporting Cristal
in the Primera Division Peruana
.
as a youth. He got his break in 1998 when Oswaldo Piazza
decided to promote several teenage players to the main line-up of the team, particularly after the team had secured the Apertura cup and thus a place in the final game. This generation of players included Manuel Barreto
, Mario Gómez
, Jorge Araujo
, Anthony Matellini, Luis Cordero, Oswaldo Carrion, Francisco Bazán
, among others. Alva's debut was in the 2nd half of a game against classic rival Sporting Cristal
, a match that Universitario lost. However, Universitario won the 1998 tournament. Alva continued getting chances, despite his controversial playing style; he showed much skill but often did not know when to let go of the ball. It was enough to get him called to the U-20 Peru national team. By 2000, with the departure of Mauro Cantoro and Roberto Farfan from the team, Alva entered the starting eleven. He formed a powerful striking duo playing alongside Eduardo Esidio
, aiding him to score the record amount of goals in Peruvian football history (and the 2nd highest amount of goals by any player worldwide that year) while scoring many of his own – 17 in the Peruvian tournament and one in the Copa Merconorte
– and leading Universitario to their historic third championship in a row, capturing both the Apertura and Clausura titles. He was called to join the Peru national football team
.
In 2001 Alva was among a legion of star players of Universitario that demanded a much higher salary and left for other teams. Alva was hired by Sporting Cristal
for what was rumored to be a $100,000 contract. However, Alva did not shine in his new team, and scored only 7 goals. But his play was good enough to attract the attention of Unión de Santa Fe
in the Argentine league, where Alva left to play in 2002. This experience was short-lived and with little success. Alva returned to Peru, and in 2003 he played for Sport Boys
, scoring 10 goals.
Alva moved to Alianza Atletico Sullana in 2004, scoring 4 goals in the Apertura tournament and aiding his team's offense overall. His play improved and was reminiscent of his peak in the 2000 season. This attracted the attention of Universitario, who got him on a loan for the Clausura tournament. He scored an additional 6 goals for 'la U'. He officially signed on for Universitario in 2005, scoring 12 goals while playing in the midfield as the team's '10'. Although 'la U' failed to win both the Apertura and Clausura, winding up in 2nd place both times, they still scored the most points and the most goals, and thus qualified for the Copa Libertadores. In 2006, in a striker role again, Alva scored 16 goals (3 in the Apertura, 13 in the Clausura), making him the second most effective striker of the Peruvian league. He was invited back to Peru national football team
. He was also often the team captain of Universitario. However, fans blamed him for missing scoring chances with easy-seeming set-ups in key games that led to Universitario's failure to win the Clausura tournament; despite being in the lead, they were tied at last minute by Cienciano and then lost the final match.
As a result, in 2007 Alva's relationship with the press, the fans, the managers, and his coach progressively deteriorated. Alva was additionally criticized for possibly making false claims of being in negotiations with teams from Brazil, Argentina, and Europe in order to secure a higher contract from Universitario. Alva's relationship with coach Jorge Amado Nunes
worsened to the extent of an open verbal battle, leading to Nunes being ousted as coach. It was never confirmed, but Nunes accused a group of players made up by Alva, Luis Guadalupe
, Donny Neyra
, Marco Ruiz
, and Gregorio Bernales
of being directly involved in his being fired. Alva and these fellow players were accused of trying to run the team to keep the veteran players in charge. A few weeks later, after new elections at the club, interim coach Edgar Ospina was removed for Nunes to be re-instated. Alva and these other players played a very bad game against Deportivo San Martin
, losing 0–3, and were accused of throwing the game in protest. As a result, Alva was removed from the main team with most of the other controversial players and some others. Alva negotiated a deal to leave the club. He only scored 2 goals in this season. In June 2007, after much speculation and offers from local teams, it was announced that Alva would be playing in the Skoda Xanthi
in Greece In Greece, Alva had a bad season without goals and he released in May 2008. In July 2008. he signed a contract with Cienciano del Cuzco
. He scored his first goal on 30 July. At the end of the season he scored 8 goals. In January 2009 he would sign for one year with Universitario de Deportes
.
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian international football striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
. He currently plays for Sporting Cristal
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Founded on November 16, 1926 in the Rimac District given its approval to the merger and Snuff Sporting merging with...
in the Primera Division Peruana
Primera División Peruana
The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano...
.
Playing Style
Despite his winding up as one of the top goal scorers in his teams, Alva is more of a thinking, dribbling, and running forward who creates his own scoring chances and for his teammates, coming down fast by the sides, rather than being a speculative center-forward striker.Club career
Alva got his start in Universitario de DeportesUniversitario de Deportes
Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of...
as a youth. He got his break in 1998 when Oswaldo Piazza
Oswaldo Piazza
Osvaldo José Piazza is a former Argentine football defender, now a manager.-Biography:He arrived at AS Saint-Étienne, in 1972, replacing new coach Robert Herbin at fullback position.He was associated with Christian Lopez and had the habit to help the team offensively.He won lots of titles with AS...
decided to promote several teenage players to the main line-up of the team, particularly after the team had secured the Apertura cup and thus a place in the final game. This generation of players included Manuel Barreto
Manuel Francisco Barreto
Manuel Barreto is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently a free agent. His most recent club was José Gálvez FBC in the Peruvian First Division.-Club career:...
, Mario Gómez
Mario Gómez (Peruvian footballer)
Mario Augusto Gomez Urbina is a footballer from Peru who plays for Sport Boys.-External links:* * *...
, Jorge Araujo
Jorge Araujo
Jorge Araujo Paredes is a Peruvian football defender. He currently plays for León de Huánuco in the Peruvian First Division.-Career:...
, Anthony Matellini, Luis Cordero, Oswaldo Carrion, Francisco Bazán
Francisco De Paula Bazán
Francisco de Paula Bazán Landi is a Peruvian goalkeeper. He currently plays for Universitario de Deportes.-Career:He started his career with Peruvian football Club Deportivo San Agustín . Some of his former clubs are Universitario de Deportes, Olympiakos Nicosia and Anorthosis Famagusta.-Titles:-...
, among others. Alva's debut was in the 2nd half of a game against classic rival Sporting Cristal
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Founded on November 16, 1926 in the Rimac District given its approval to the merger and Snuff Sporting merging with...
, a match that Universitario lost. However, Universitario won the 1998 tournament. Alva continued getting chances, despite his controversial playing style; he showed much skill but often did not know when to let go of the ball. It was enough to get him called to the U-20 Peru national team. By 2000, with the departure of Mauro Cantoro and Roberto Farfan from the team, Alva entered the starting eleven. He formed a powerful striking duo playing alongside Eduardo Esidio
Eduardo Esidio
José Eduardo Esidio is a Brazilian footballer born on November 17, 1970 in São Paulo.He was the South American Top scorer in the year 2000 with 37 goals in 38 matches when playing for one of Peru’s top teams, Universitario de Deportes. He is also known for being the first professional footballer in...
, aiding him to score the record amount of goals in Peruvian football history (and the 2nd highest amount of goals by any player worldwide that year) while scoring many of his own – 17 in the Peruvian tournament and one in the Copa Merconorte
Copa Merconorte
The Copa Merconorte was an international football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by clubs from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and later the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico...
– and leading Universitario to their historic third championship in a row, capturing both the Apertura and Clausura titles. He was called to join the Peru national football team
Peru national football team
The Peru national football team, known as 'el equipo inca', represents Peru in international football competition and is managed by the Peruvian Football Federation . The team competes against the other nine members of FIFA's CONMEBOL conference, which encompasses the countries of South America...
.
In 2001 Alva was among a legion of star players of Universitario that demanded a much higher salary and left for other teams. Alva was hired by Sporting Cristal
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Founded on November 16, 1926 in the Rimac District given its approval to the merger and Snuff Sporting merging with...
for what was rumored to be a $100,000 contract. However, Alva did not shine in his new team, and scored only 7 goals. But his play was good enough to attract the attention of Unión de Santa Fe
Unión de Santa Fe
Club Atlético Unión is a sports club from Santa Fe, the capital city of the province with the same name in Argentina. The club, founded in 1907, has a strong rivalry with Colón de Santa Fe....
in the Argentine league, where Alva left to play in 2002. This experience was short-lived and with little success. Alva returned to Peru, and in 2003 he played for Sport Boys
Sport Boys
Sport Boys Association is a Peruvian football club, playing in the port city of Callao. It was founded on Peru's independence day, July 28, 1927....
, scoring 10 goals.
Alva moved to Alianza Atletico Sullana in 2004, scoring 4 goals in the Apertura tournament and aiding his team's offense overall. His play improved and was reminiscent of his peak in the 2000 season. This attracted the attention of Universitario, who got him on a loan for the Clausura tournament. He scored an additional 6 goals for 'la U'. He officially signed on for Universitario in 2005, scoring 12 goals while playing in the midfield as the team's '10'. Although 'la U' failed to win both the Apertura and Clausura, winding up in 2nd place both times, they still scored the most points and the most goals, and thus qualified for the Copa Libertadores. In 2006, in a striker role again, Alva scored 16 goals (3 in the Apertura, 13 in the Clausura), making him the second most effective striker of the Peruvian league. He was invited back to Peru national football team
Peru national football team
The Peru national football team, known as 'el equipo inca', represents Peru in international football competition and is managed by the Peruvian Football Federation . The team competes against the other nine members of FIFA's CONMEBOL conference, which encompasses the countries of South America...
. He was also often the team captain of Universitario. However, fans blamed him for missing scoring chances with easy-seeming set-ups in key games that led to Universitario's failure to win the Clausura tournament; despite being in the lead, they were tied at last minute by Cienciano and then lost the final match.
As a result, in 2007 Alva's relationship with the press, the fans, the managers, and his coach progressively deteriorated. Alva was additionally criticized for possibly making false claims of being in negotiations with teams from Brazil, Argentina, and Europe in order to secure a higher contract from Universitario. Alva's relationship with coach Jorge Amado Nunes
Jorge Amado Nunes
Jorge Amado Nunes Infrán is a former Paraguayan football midfielder that currently works as a coach....
worsened to the extent of an open verbal battle, leading to Nunes being ousted as coach. It was never confirmed, but Nunes accused a group of players made up by Alva, Luis Guadalupe
Luis Guadalupe
Luis Alberto Guadalupe is a Peruvian football defender currently playing for Juan Aurich.- Career :Guadalupe has played most of his career for the Universitario de Deportes club in Lima, Peru...
, Donny Neyra
Donny Neyra
Donny Neyra is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a central or attacking midfielder for Cobresol FBC in the Peruvian First Division.-Club career:*Universitario de Deportes Statistics: 2008 Apertura...
, Marco Ruiz
Marco Ruiz
Marco Ruiz is a Paraguayan professional golfer.Ruiz was born in Asunción. He is the godson of celebrated Argentine golfer Vicente Fernández. Ruiz turned pro in 1992....
, and Gregorio Bernales
Gregorio Bernales
Gregorio Bernales is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cobresol FBC.-Career:At the club level, Bernales played for Universitario de Deportes. He was part of the squad that became tri-champions in 2000....
of being directly involved in his being fired. Alva and these fellow players were accused of trying to run the team to keep the veteran players in charge. A few weeks later, after new elections at the club, interim coach Edgar Ospina was removed for Nunes to be re-instated. Alva and these other players played a very bad game against Deportivo San Martin
Universidad San Martín de Porres
Club Deportivo Universidad San Martín de Porres is a Peruvian football club, who plays in the city of Lima. The club was founded in 2004 as a joint stock company, the first in Peru. They then bought Club Sport Coopsol's place in the First Division who was promoted to the Peruvian First Division...
, losing 0–3, and were accused of throwing the game in protest. As a result, Alva was removed from the main team with most of the other controversial players and some others. Alva negotiated a deal to leave the club. He only scored 2 goals in this season. In June 2007, after much speculation and offers from local teams, it was announced that Alva would be playing in the Skoda Xanthi
Skoda Xanthi
Skoda Xanthi F.C. , or F.C. Skoda Xanthi Athletic Club, is a Greek football club, based in the city of Xanthi. The club currently competes in the Super League Greece.-History:...
in Greece In Greece, Alva had a bad season without goals and he released in May 2008. In July 2008. he signed a contract with Cienciano del Cuzco
Cienciano del Cuzco
Club Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru. The club was founded in 1901 and was originally the team of the Faculty of Science of the University of Cusco , from which it takes its name...
. He scored his first goal on 30 July. At the end of the season he scored 8 goals. In January 2009 he would sign for one year with Universitario de Deportes
Universitario de Deportes
Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of...
.
Titles
| Season | Club | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Campeonato Descentralizado 1998 |  UniversitarioUniversitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of... |
Primera División Peruana Primera División Peruana The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano... |
| Campeonato Descentralizado 1999 | Universitario Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of... |
Primera División Peruana Primera División Peruana The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano... |
| Campeonato Descentralizado 2000 | Universitario Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of... |
Primera División Peruana Primera División Peruana The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano... |
| Campeonato Descentralizado 2009 | Universitario Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, also known as Universitario, or more popularly as [La] "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. It is the most successful football club in Peru. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of... |
Primera División Peruana Primera División Peruana The Peruvian Primera División is the top professional division of Peruvian football. It is known today as Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional Peruano... |