Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro yesterday grabbed the opener in Werder Bremen’s 2:0 away win over VfB Stuttgart to vault past Sevilla’s Brazil star Luís Fabiano and capture the lead in the FTBL ranking of South American strikers with a tally of 166.37 points.

Pizarro has been pulling impressive stats lately: he has scored 5 goals in 5 games. He scores frequently, but only in every other game. He earned 18.18 rating points in the game against Stuttgart.

If he wants to maintain his lead among South American strikers, Pizarro will have to score in the coming World Cup 2010 qualifier against Argentina. His plank to beat in the game will be a daunting 26 rating points. A good bonus will come only if he scores.