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Piero Fernando Alva Niezen (born 14 February 1979) is a Peruvian
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...
and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of
Universitario Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universitario, has competed in ...
's youth sides.


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 Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has Association football, soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universi ...
as a youth. He got his break in 1998 when
Oswaldo Piazza Osvaldo José Piazza (born 6 April 1947) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. In his playing days, he was a defender. Biography He arrived at AS Saint-Étienne, in 1972, replacing new coach Robert Herbin at fullba ...
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 Sayán (born 12 September 1982) is a Peruvian football coach and former player who played as a striker. He is the current sporting director of Universitario. Barreto was born in Lima, Peru. He began his professional c ...
,
Mario Gómez Mario Gómez García (; born 10 July 1985) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He represented the Germany national football team, Germany national team ...
,
Jorge Araujo Jorge Martín Araujo Paredes (born 30 November 1979) is a Peruvian football coach and former player who played as a defender. He is the assistant manager of Universitario de Deportes. Career Born in Lima, Araujo has played over 100 games for ...
,
Anthony Matellini Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants ...
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Luis Cordero Luis Benjamín Cordero y Crespo (6 April 1833 – 30 January 1912) was List of heads of state of Ecuador, President of Ecuador 1 July 1892 to 16 April 1895. Cordero was born 6 April 1833 in the Cañar province of Ecuador to parents Gregorio Co ...
,
Oswaldo Carrion Oswaldo ( Spanish for " Oswald") is a Spanish masculine given name. It may refer to: * Oswaldo Buzzoni (1924–1988), Brazilian footballer * Oswaldo Cabrera (born 1999), Venezuelan baseball player * Oswaldo Castillo, Nicaraguan-American gardener/c ...
,
Francisco Bazán Francisco "Paco" de Paula Bazán Landi (born 10 October 1980) is a Peruvian former goalkeeper. He last played for Universitario de Deportes. Career He started his career with Peruvian football Club Deportivo San Agustín (San Isidro District). S ...
, among others. Alva's debut was in the 2nd half of a game against classic rival
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 ...
, 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 Roberto Mauro Cantoro (born 1 September 1976 in Ramos Mejia, La Matanza Partido, Argentina), nicknamed El Toro, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He also has Italian and Polish citizenship. Personal li ...
and
Roberto Farfan Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...
from the team, Alva entered the starting eleven. He formed a powerful striking duo playing alongside
Eduardo Esidio José Eduardo Esidio (born November 17, 1970) in São Paulo) is a Brazilian footballer. 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 a ...
, aiding him to score the record number of goals in Peruvian football history (and the 2nd highest number 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 The Copa Merconorte () was an international football competition organized by CONMEBOL from 1998 to 2001 by clubs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela and starting in 2000 clubs from the CONCACAF confederation were invited includin ...
– 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 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 ...
. 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 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 ...
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 Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...
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 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 ...
, scoring 10 goals. Alva moved to
Alianza Atletico Sullana Alianza may refer to: Sport * Alianza Atlético, Peru * Alianza Petrolera F.C., Columbia * Alianza Universidad, Peru * Club Alianza Lima, Peru * Alianza F.C. (Colombia) * Alianza F.C. (El Salvador) * Alianza F.C. (Panama) Music * Alianza (Arge ...
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 The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
. 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 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 ...
. 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 Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peru, Peruvian professional association football, football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating Club At ...
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 Infrán (born 18 October 1961) is a Paraguayan football manager and former player. He played as a midfielder and has been a member of the Paraguay national team. Club career Nicknamed "El Cenizo", Nunes played in several t ...
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 Alberto Guadalupe (born April 3, 1976 in Chincha) is a retired football Peruvian footballer who played as a central defender Career Guadalupe has played most of his career for the Universitario de Deportes club in Lima, Peru. He has also ...
, 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 Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...
in Greece FUTBOLPERUANO.COM: Alva militará en el balompié helénico
/ref> 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 Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peruvian professional football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating River Plate in the finals of the 2 ...
. 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 Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has Association football, soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universi ...
.


Titles


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alva, Piero 1979 births Living people Footballers from Lima Men's association football forwards Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Peru men's international footballers Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Sporting Cristal footballers Unión de Santa Fe footballers Sport Boys footballers Alianza Atlético footballers Xanthi F.C. players Cienciano footballers Oriente Petrolero players FBC Melgar footballers Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo footballers José Gálvez FBC footballers Super League Greece players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Peruvian people of Italian descent Peruvian people of German descent Peruvian football managers Club Universitario de Deportes managers