Claudio Pizarro's exit making waves after 3:2 loss to Chile

Peruvian football star Claudio Pizarro left the national team early after a 3:2 loss to Chile in a friendly Saturday night at the Chilean beach resort of Vina del Mar.

The striker, who plays his club football for German champion Bayern Munich, caused a stir when announcing before his arrival from Germany that he would only be available for the first of two friendlies against Chile. The rematch will be played on Wednesday at the Jorge Basadre stadium in Tacna. Pizarro reasoned that playing on Wednesday wouldn't give hime enough time to prepare for Munich's league match against Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

First speculation was that his German club had requested Pizarro's early return, which was not the case. The "bomber of the Andes" made the decision himself, it was on his own initiative, fearing he may lose his starting spot with a late arrival in Germany on Friday.

As a result Peruvian team manager Franco Navarro decided to leave Pizarro out of the starting line-up, bringing him only during the second half for the last half hour of the match. Pizarro did score the last goal of the game in the 83. minute. However, at the time Peru was already down to nine men after two earlier red cards and another send-off shortly after Pizarro's goal left the team even more decimated, basically eliminating the chance for a late equalizer.

While his teammates traveled to Peru's southern city of Tacna yesterday to prepare for Wednesday's match, Pizarro arrived in Lima on Sunday morning.

Even more irritating was the fact that Pizarro was seen at the Monterrico horse race track in the afternoon before boarding his flight back to Germany later that night.

"We knew we had Pizarro for only one match and for that reason I wanted to try other options. Leaving him out of the starting eleven was my decision. That he went to the race track yesterday is unbelievable", manager Navarro said.

The president of Peru's Football Federation (FPF), Manuel Burga, detailed yesterday that he will wait for the internal reports and make a decision on this subject on Thursday. He didn't rule out filing a complaint with FIFA after Pizarro's abandonment. It is likely that Saturday's game may have been Pizarro's last as the team's captain. There's also the possibility that the twenty-eight year old may have played his last game for Peru's national selection.

Paolo Guerrero, fellow striker and teammate on the „Blanquirroja“ who plays for German rival Hamburger SV, stayed with the team even though his next Bundesliga game is also on Saturday at the exactly the same time.