Peru captain Paolo Guerrero celebrated his reprieve from a doping ban in style on Sunday, scoring twice in a 3-0 friendly win over Saudi Arabia three days after being given the all-clear to play at his first World Cup.
The game was played in a raucous atmosphere in front of a capacity 18,000 crowd, nearly all Peruvians who had travelled from neighbouring countries for a glimpse of their team which has qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
“I am very happy to come back with two goals but we have to keep our focus, nobody can take away our concentration,” Guerrero told reporters. “We played a very good game today and we have to keep this unity.”
It was Guerrero’s first appearance for Peru since the World Cup qualifier in Argentina last October when he tested positive for a cocaine byproduct — contained in a tea he drank and which he says he ingested unknowingly.