Farfan had been due to start the match having played against Brazil in Peru’s opener, but suffered an allergic reaction to painkillers he has been taking to treat a foot injury.
Enter Pizarro, Peru’s most experienced player but now in the twilight of his career.
With 72 minutes played and the match goalless, Pizarro picked up a short pass from his strike partner Paolo Guerrero and fired a fierce shot in off the underside of the Venezuelan crossbar.
The Peruvians held on to win and are now in contention for a place in the last eight of the competition.
“Claudio and I spend a lot of time together but it’s a long time since we played together,” Guerrero said. “We sometimes struggle a bit because we have very similar characteristics. Thank God, with that goal we won.”
Pizarro was not only given a place in the starting line-up but also the captain’s armband -- a measure of the respect he commands in the Peruvian camp.
Now 36, he is playing his fourth Copa America, having made his debut in the tournament 16 years ago. It should have been five but he missed the last edition in 2011 due to injury.
He is the Peruvian player who has enjoyed the greatest success in Europe, with Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen in Germany and briefly with Chelsea in England. His tally of 176 goals in the Bundesliga is a record for a foreign player.
Peru face Colombia in their final group match on Sunday. Farfan is expected to be fit enough to reclaim his place but if he cannot, Pizarro has proved he is still more than capable of answering the call.
(Reporting by Javier Leira, writing by Gideon Long, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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