- Piero Alva
Football player infobox
playername = Piero Alva
fullname = Piero Fernando Alva Niezen
nickname = El Zorro, El Zorrito
height = 1.84cm
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|2|14
cityofbirth =Lima
countryofbirth =Peru
currentclub =Cienciano
clubnumber =
position =Striker
youthyears =1997
youthclubs =Universitario de Deportes
years = 1998-2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2004-2007
2007-2008
2008-
clubs =Universitario de Deportes Sporting Cristal Unión de Santa Fe Sport Boys Alianza Atletico Sullana Universitario de Deportes Skoda Xanthi Cienciano
caps(goals) = 45 (17)
46 (7)
0(0)
33 (10)
23 (4)
113 (39)
14 (0)
1 (1)
nationalyears = Present
nationalteam = Peru
nationalcaps(goals) = 3(1)Piero Alva is a
Peru vian international striker who plays forCienciano in thePrimera Division Peruana .Play 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 some for his teammates, coming down fast by the sides, rather than being a speculative center-forward striker.
Club career
Piero Alva got his start in
Universitario de Deportes as a youth. He got his break in 1998 whenOswaldo 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 includedManuel Barreto ,Mario Gomez ,Jorge Araujo ,Anthony Matellini ,Luis Cordero ,Oswaldo Carrion ,Francisco Bazan , among others. Alva's debut was in the 2nd half of a game against classic rivalSporting 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. In 1999 Alva is again a champion with Universitario, scoring 3 goals throughout the year. By 2000, with the departure ofMauro Cantoro andRoberto Farfan from the team, Alva secured a starting spot. He formed a powerful striking duo playing alongsideEduardo 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 theMerconorte championship - and leading Universitario to their historic third championship in a row, capturing both the Apertura and Clausura titles. He was called to join thePeru 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 ofUnión 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 forSport 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 theCopa 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 toPeru 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 [ [http://www.libero.com.pe/index.php?option=com_contentant&task=view&id=16918&Itemid=0 :LIBERO:. - Piero se calla ] ] ; despite being in the lead, they were tied at last minute byCienciano 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 Armado 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 , andGregorio 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 coachEdgar Ospina was removed for Nunes to be re-instated. Alva and these other players played a very bad game againstDeportivo 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 [ [http://www.libero.com.pe/index.php?option=com_contentant&task=view&id=24327&Itemid=0 :LIBERO:. - Alva desaprobó admisión ] ] . 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 theSkoda Xanthi in Greece [ [http://www.peru.com/futbol/AutoNoticias/FutbolPeruExterior/2007/06/14/DetalleNoticia90574.asp FUTBOLPERUANO.COM: Alva militará en el balompié helénico ] ] In Greece, Piero Alva had a bad season without goals and he released in May 2008. In July 2008. he signed a contract withCienciano del Cuzco . He scored his first goal in July 30th.External links
* Profile at DelGol.com * [http://www.delgol.com/alva/default.asp]
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.