Waldir Saenz

Waldir Alejandro Sáenz Pérez (Lima, May 15, 1973) is a former Peruvian soccer player who played as a striker and his last team was Walter Ormeño of the Peruvian Second Division. He was an absolute international with the Peru soccer team.

He is one of the idols and the top scorer in the history of the Peruvian club Alianza Lima with 178 goals in 349 games and the third highest scorer in the Peruvian Primera División, only behind Sergio "Checho&# 3. 4; Ibarra and Oswaldo "Cachito" Ramirez.

Trajectory

Lima Alliance

In 1992, at the age of 19, Sáenz was promoted to the Alianza Lima first team. In the 1993 championship he was the tournament's top scorer, with 31 goals, a feat he repeated in 1996.

In 1997, Sáenz scored the 100th goal of his career while playing for Alianza Lima. That same year he won the 1997 National Title, since they won the Opening and Closing tournaments. That year, he along with the Brazilian Marquinho would be the pillars of the team.

Colorado Rapids

On March 18, 1998, the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer (American professional soccer league) announced the hiring of Waldir Sáenz, after scoring six goals in his last three games with Alianza, including four in a victory over Municipal and two in a couple of Copa Libertadores matches.

'His goal scoring record speaks for itself,' Rapids coach Glenn Myernick said. "Scoring so many goals so consistently is one of the hardest things to achieve in football, and we are very excited for him to complete what we believe is a very dangerous attack." "What we've done now is take two of the best players (Marquinho and Saenz) from one of the best teams in South America (Alianza Lima) and plug them into our lineup," added the Rapids general manager., Dan Counce.

Saenz, 24 at the time, joined the Rapids on a one-year loan deal, where Colorado had the option after this season to buy out his contract and make him a permanent member of the Rapids. "I'm very flattered that Coach Myernick and the Rapids saw me and decided to make an effort to bring me here," Saenz said. "Coming to a new team in a new country is very exciting, and I hope it wont take long for him to fit into the team."

Sáenz scored 7 goals in 27 games that season, while Marquinho would score 3 goals in 11 games.

Lima Alliance

Waldir returned to the club in 1999 and won the closing tournament, playing 38 games and scoring 24 goals; while Marquinho would score 13 goals with a Sport Boys entertainer of the tournament.

Santa Fe Union

In 2000 he played for Club Atlético Unión of Santa Fe, Argentina, together with his compatriot Juan Jayo. Waldir only played 3 games while Jayo made great appearances, which is why he came to Spain.

Sport Cristal

In the middle of 2000 he returned to Peru and played for Sporting Cristal. He made official goals locally and internationally. Runner-up of the Clausura 2000 tournament.

Lima Alliance

He returned to Alianza Lima in the year of the centenary (2001), where he played the Apertura in a close final against Sporting Cristal, a match that he won 2-1. After losing the Clausura, Alianza would face Cienciano, (winner of the Closing Tournament). As national champion, Sáenz emerged as the best Alliance player in the two finals, winning 3-2 in the first leg in Matute, and scored the decisive penalty in the series of penalties in Cusco, thus achieving a new championship that year. so special. Since 2002 he was the player who scored the most goals for Alianza Lima in the entire history of the club.

After obtaining the Title in 2003, he was an important part in achieving the Apertura title in 2004, scoring 1-0 against his eternal rival, Universitario de Deportes. At the end of the year, Alianza Lima was crowned National Champion twice. In 2005 he did not play much.

Melgar and Deportivo Municipal

For the 2006 Apertura he signed for FBC Melgar in Arequipa. After spending the rest of 2006 and the first half of 2007 without a club, he joined Deportivo Municipal for the 2007 Clausura Tournament.

Lima Alliance

In the 2008 Apertura he returned to Alianza Lima, where he played few games because he was no longer in his best shape. At the end of said short tournament, he concluded his contract with the club.

Trouble with the law

In 2007, the head of the Sixth Superior Criminal Prosecutor of Lima, Rafael Agüero Pinto, requested ten years in prison for Waldir Sáenz, as an alleged primary accomplice in the robbery of the Alianza Lima club in 2002, an accusation of which, the player was acquitted for lack of conclusive evidence. The facts referred to the theft of $55,000 destined to pay the salaries of the first team players. In his accusation, the head of this office, Rafael Agüero Pinto, indicated that during the investigation process the version of a defendant was accepted, who stated that Waldir would have devised the assault, in addition to providing detailed information on the day, time and money location. According to the declarant, the player would have called him to execute the plan, minutes after receiving his salary. He also added that days before the former striker of Alianza Lima proposed to simulate the theft of his car, in order to collect the insurance he has. The player was acquitted for lack of evidence only in 2008, being declared "not guilty". (1)

Sport Boys and Walter Ormeño

In 2009 he joined the Sport Boys club in Callao, where he played in the Second Division, winning the championship, with the 12 goals that made him the top scorer for his club, thus achieving the championship for the Sport Boys, achieving their promotion to first. After 3 inactive years in soccer, he returned to the fields to play in 2013 for Walter Ormeño de Cañete.

Waldir permanently retired from football on December 27, 2017, on Blue and White Fan Day, at the age of 44.

National team

He was part of the team that was left out of France 1998 solely on goal difference. He placed fourth in the 1997 Copa América and the bronze medal in the 2000 Gold Cup.

Clubs

Club	Country	Year	PJ	Goles	Prom
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1992-1998	192	115	0.60
Colorado Rapids	United States	1998	27	7	0.26
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1999	38	24	0.63
Union de Santa Fe	Argentina	2000	3	1	0.33
Sporting Crystal	Peru Peru	2000	22	7	0.32
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2001-2005	119	37	0.31
Melgar	Peru Peru	2006	6	1	0.17
Municipal Sports	Peru Peru	2007	5	0	0.00
Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2008	6	0	0.00
Sport Boys	Peru Peru	2009	18	12	0.67
Walter Ormeño	Peru Peru	2013	8	2	0.25
Total			444	206	0.46

Honours of Prizes

Short Tournaments

Title	Club	Country	Year
Opening Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1997
Closing Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1997
Closing Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1999
Opening Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2001
Closing Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2003
Opening Tour	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2004

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
First Division	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	1997
First Division	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2001
First Division	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2003
First Division	Alliance Lima	Peru Peru	2004
Second Division	Sport Boys	Peru Peru	2009

Individual awards