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Striking a familiar pose, Claudio Pizarro celebrates scoring for Werder Bremen in the DFB Cup at the ripe age of 40. - © imago images / Nordphoto
Striking a familiar pose, Claudio Pizarro celebrates scoring for Werder Bremen in the DFB Cup at the ripe age of 40. - © imago images / Nordphoto
bundesliga

Eternal Claudio Pizarro hints at more after setting DFB Cup record

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He has scored in 21 different Bundesliga seasons and is the oldest goalscorer in Germany's top-flight, but there does not seem to be any stopping Werder Bremen forward Claudio Pizarro.

The 40-year-old has already announced that this will be his last season, but after becoming the oldest goalscorer of a brace in a DFB Cup game at the weekend, there are doubts surrounding the sincerity of those words.

"It's great to score goals and set new records," said Pizarro after springing from the bench to score two in Bremen's 6-1 win over SV Atlas Delmenhorst, at the age of 40 years and 311 days. "It's a new feeling every time."

Watch: Claudio Pizarro's 21 goals from 21 years

While he did not set the record for the oldest ever goalscorer in the DFB Cup – that has belonged to the 44-year-old Karl Lambertin since 1980 – he showed that he can be more than just a bench-warmer during the final campaign of an illustrious career which has already spanned more than two decades.

"I'm slowly starting to get scared," said his coach Florian Kohfeldt, ahead of what may well become a selection headache. "The biggest compliment I can make is that when I do bring him on, it's never just to give him a present."

It may not be a present for Pizarro, but it certainly is for Bremen's fans.

41,500 were delirious when he struck just three minutes after taking to the field on Saturday, and they raised the roof of the Wohninvest Weserstadion once again when the Peruvian netted his 34th goal in the DFB Cup – one more than Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.

Expect more too when Pizarro embarks on his 22nd season in the Bundesliga, when Bremen host Fortuna Düsseldorf next Saturday.