Flavio Francisco Maestri Andrade (born 21 January 1973 in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

) is a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian former football player. He is nicknamed ''The Tank'' because of his large size. Throughout his career, he has played professional football for numerous teams in

, Spain,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, China,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and has also played for the National team.

Club career

When Flavio Maestri was 10 years old, his father, Edmondo Maestri Baroni, brought him to

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

to try out. The youth coach at the time,

Alberto Gallardo Félix Alberto Gallardo Mendoza (28 November 1940 – 19 January 2001) was a Peruvian football player and manager who played as a forward. He is regarded as a renowned sprinter, possessing shooting power and an atypical physical display for Pe ...

, admitted him into the club. When Flavio was 16, he signed his first professional contract with

. At age 18 he debuted with the first team under coach

Juan Carlos Oblitas Juan Carlos Oblitas Saba (16 February 1951 in Mollendo, Arequipa) is a retired Peruvian footballer, who is a football manager, who is nicknamed ''El Ciego'' ("The Blind One"). Oblitas was an extraordinary outside left wing forward at the national ...

in a match against San Agustin. He scored his first goal that same year in a match against Hijos de Yurimaguas. Flavio Maestri was part of the team consisting of

Roberto Palacios Roberto Carlos Palacios Mestas (born 28 December 1972) is a Peruvian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Palacios is Peru's record cap holder and played most of his career for Sporting Cristal, which was the team he start ...

Nolberto Solano Nolberto Albino Solano Todco (born 12 December 1974) is a Peruvian football coach and former player who is the manager of San Marcos. Solano spent much of his career in the Premier League, primarily with Newcastle United, and also with Aston V ...

, Julinho, Jorge Soto, Pedro Garay and Julio César Balerio that won the "Tricampeonato" from 1994 to 1996. By age 23, Flavio became an idol for Cristal fans and became an integral member of the team by scoring more than 100 goals. His good performances caught the attention of

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

and in 1996 he transferred there. He played in Spain until 1998 when Chilean club

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

acquired him. Flavio played with Chilean club until 2001. In 2002, Maestri came back to

after six years outside of Peru. He was loaned out to

San Luis F.C. San Luis Fútbol Club was a Mexican professional Association football, football club from the city of San Luis Potosí (city), San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí. The club was founded in 1957, when they were known as Santos (saints). The team's nic ...

but came back to

to win another championship, the Torneo Apertura 2003. Flavio was than loaned out again, this time to Brazilian club Vitória. Flavio returned to Peru and did not renew his contract with

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

signed him and Flavio became part of their team in 2004. In 2005 again Maestri went abroad, to Chinese club Shanghai The 9 on loan. After his loan in China he returned to

where he became National Champions in 2006. At the end of 2007,

did not renew their contract with Maestri. Flavio decided to sign with

Sport Boys The Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as the Sport Boys or simply the Boys, is a Peruvian association football club based in the port city of Callao, founded on 28 July 1927. The club currently participate in the Peruvian Primera Divi ...

but due to injury he did not play often. In 2009, he returned once again to

International career

Maestri has made 57 appearances for the

Peru national football team The Peru national football team (), nicknamed ''La Bicolor'', represents Peru in men's international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Federación Peruana de Fútbol (). It has been a member of FIFA since 1924 ...

, 24 of those in

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches. He is also responsible for Peru winning the only important title for the team during the last decade which was the 1999 Kirin Cup, where they shared first place with Belgium. Maestri scored the only goal on the sixth minute against Belgium which later ended in a tie.

Managerial career

Maestri was named manager at

Coronel Bolognesi Club Deportivo Coronel Bolognesi is a Peruvian football club located in the city of Tacna. Originally founded on 18 October 1929, It was named after Francisco Bolognesi. Years later, a second branch of the club called Club Sport Bolito, was founded ...

in June 2014.Flavio Maestri es el nuevo técnico de Bolognesi de Tacna
– Depor

Honours

Club

;Sporting Cristal *

Primera División Peruana Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

(4): 1994, 1995, 1996, 2003 Clausura ;Universidad de Chile *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(2):

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

(2):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

;Alianza Lima *

(3):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, 2006 Apertura, 2006 Descentralizado

Individual honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maestri, Flavio 1973 births Living people Footballers from Lima Peruvian people of Italian descent Men's association football forwards Peruvian men's footballers Peru men's international footballers Sporting Cristal footballers Hércules CF players Club Universidad de Chile footballers San Luis F.C. players Esporte Clube Vitória players Club Alianza Lima footballers Sport Boys footballers Peruvian Primera División players La Liga players China League One players Liga MX players Chilean Primera División players Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in China Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2004 Copa América players Peruvian football managers Coronel Bolognesi managers