Dwight Pezzarossi


Dwight Anthony Pezzarossi García born is a retired professional football forward who last played for Comunicaciones in the Liga Nacional de Guatemala. On 18 September 2014, Dwight Pezzarossi was named Minister of Culture and Sports of Guatemala.
Target man Pezzarossi, nicknamed El Tanque, 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

In 2003, he became the third Guatemalan footballer ever to sign with a Spanish club, joining Racing de Ferrol. He has played for a number of different clubs in different countries including Argentinos Juniors of Argentina, Palestino and Santiago Wanderers 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.
In 2008, while playing for Marquense, he had a trial with Italian Serie B side Pisa Calcio.

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.
He has represented the Guatemalan team in four FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns of 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. 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.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
13 July 2000Montreal, Canada4-14-1Friendly match
215 August 2000Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica1-21-22002 FIFA World Cup qualification
31 June 2001Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras2-01-0UNCAF Nations Cup 2001
43 June 2001Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras3-11-0UNCAF Nations Cup 2001
51 May 2004Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala1-21-2Friendly match
620 June 2004Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala2-03-12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
78 September 2004Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras2-02-22006 FIFA World Cup qualification
826 March 2005Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala4-15-12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
926 March 2005Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala5-15-12006 FIFA World Cup qualification
107 October 2006Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States1-02-3Friendly match
116 August 2008RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, United States1-03-0Friendly match
1211 February 2009Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín, Venezuela1-01-2Friendly match
139 October 2010Estadio Julián Tesucún, San Jose, Peten, Guatemala3-24-2Friendly match
147 October 2011Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines3-03-02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
158 June 2012Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica1-21-22014 FIFA World Cup qualification
167 September 2012Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala3-13-12014 FIFA World Cup qualification