Dwight Pezzarossi

Dwight Anthony Pezzarossi García (born 4 September 1979) is a Guatemalan former professional football forward and current manager for Liga Nacional club Antigua. On 18 September 2014, Pezzarossi was named Minister of Culture and Sports of Guatemala.

Dwight Pezzarossi
Official portrait as Minister of Culture and Sports.
Minister of Culture and Sports
In office
18 September 2014 – 18 September 2015
PresidentOtto Pérez Molina
Alejandro Maldonado
Preceded byCarlos Batzín
Succeeded byAna María Rodas
Personal details
Born (1979-09-04) 4 September 1979
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Height1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Association football career
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Deportivo Escuintla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2000 Comunicaciones
2000–2001 Argentinos Juniors 7 (0)
2001 Palestino 23 (13)
2002 Santiago Wanderers 8 (4)
2002–2003 Racing de Ferrol 36 (8)
2003–2004 Comunicaciones 29 (12)
2004 Bolton Wanderers 0 (0)
2004–2005 Comunicaciones 35 (9)
2005–2006 Racing de Ferrol 11 (3)
2006–2007 Numancia 1 (0)
2007–2008 Deportivo Marquense 21 (9)
2008–2011 Comunicaciones 27 (16)
2011–2012 Deportes La Serena 30 (7)
2012–2013 Comunicaciones 37 (5)
International career
2000–2012 Guatemala 72 (16)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Target man Pezzarossi, nicknamed El Tanque ("the Tank", due to his size), started his footballing career with Guatemalan lower division club Deportivo Escuintla. He spent one year there before signing for a club in the top Guatemalan league, Comunicaciones.

In 2000, Pezzarossi was signed by Argentinos Juniors and he became one of the few Guatemalan players to play abroad. Then, in June 2001, Pezzarossi moved to Chilean side Palestino.

Club career

Pezzarossi was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. In 2003, he became the third Guatemalan footballer ever to sign with a Spanish club, joining Racing de Ferrol.[1] He has played for a number of different clubs in different countries including Argentinos Juniors of Argentina, Palestino and Santiago Wanderers[2] of Chile, and Bolton Wanderers of England. He played for Racing de Ferrol again in 2006, before being transferred to Numancia. He could not claim a regular place there and joined Deportivo Marquense in 2007.[3]

In 2008, while playing for Marquense, he had a trial with Italian Serie B side Pisa Calcio.[4]

La Serena

During the 2011 Copa América break, it was reported that Pezzarossi would join to Chilean Primera División side Deportes La Serena in a season deal. On 27 June, Pezzarossi arrived to Chile and then he joined to La Serena in a one-year contract. He debuted for La Serena in a 3–0 away loss against Universidad de Chile, playing only 23 minutes in the game after of replace to his teammate Juan Sánchez Sotelo. The following match, Pezzarossi scored in the 2–0 win of La Serena to Universidad de Concepción in the 88th minute, after an impressive header.

His good performance in La Serena made that Pezzarossi was recalled to the national team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in where he scored in a 3–0 win of his country. After of his international participation, he scored for La Serena in a 2–0 win to Santiago Wanderers, a historic triumph of his team after 20 years of footballing paterny over La Serena at Valparaíso. His third goal for the club came against Unión Española in a dramatic 3–2 win, in where the keeper Marcos Gutiérrez saved the team of the draw, after of save a penalty to Leonardo Monje.

International career

Pezzarossi made his debut for Guatemala in a January 2000 friendly match against Panama and played his last match in 2012, he has earned a total of 72 caps, scoring 16 goals.[5] He has represented the Guatemalan team in four FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns of 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 .[6] He remarkably only played two games at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, coming on as a substitute against El Salvador in 2007 and again as a substitute against Grenada in 2011.

Career statistics
Scores and results list Guatemala's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pezzarossi goal.
List of international goals scored by Dwight Pezzarossi
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
13 July 2000Montreal, Canada Haiti4–14–1Friendly
215 August 2000Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica Costa Rica1–21–22002 FIFA World Cup qualification
31 June 2001Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras Costa Rica2–01–0UNCAF Nations Cup 2001
43 June 2001Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras Panama3–11–0UNCAF Nations Cup 2001
51 May 2004Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala Panama1–21–2Friendly
620 June 2004Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala Suriname2–03–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
78 September 2004Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras Honduras2–02–22006 FIFA World Cup qualification
826 March 2005Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala Trinidad and Tobago4–15–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
95–1
107 October 2006Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States Honduras1–02–3Friendly
116 August 2008RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, United States Bolivia1–03–0Friendly
1211 February 2009Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín, Venezuela Venezuela1–01–2Friendly
139 October 2010Estadio Julián Tesucún, San Jose, Peten, Guatemala Belize3–24–2Friendly
147 October 2011Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines3–03–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
158 June 2012Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica1–21–22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
167 September 2012Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala Antigua and Barbuda3–13–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification

References
  1. "Un tanque en España" (in Spanish). Diario La Hora. Archived from the original on 26 December 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2007.
  2. Silvio Fernández y Dwight Pezzarossi: "En Wanderers la romperemos a goles Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine - La Cuarta (in Spanish)
  3. Dwight Pezzarossi llega a Marquense Archived 7 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine - El Periodico (in Spanish)
  4. El centro delantero del equipo de Comunicaciones, Dwight Pezzarossi, ajustará cinco días de la siguiente semana en el club Pisa Calcio de la Segunda División del fútbol italiano - La Hora (in Spanish)
  5. Guatemala - Record International Players - RSSSF
  6. Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
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