Legendary Peruvian football striker Claudio Pizarro started his journey in China this week as the Club Ambassador of the Bundesliga's Bayern Munich. In an interview with Xinhua News Agency, he gave his advice to young players: Find out your goal and work hard for it.

"My advice to young players is simple. You need to work very hard and keep your goal on your mind," Pizarro said. "It's important to know what you want to achieve and where you want to go."

Having joined Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga in 1999 at 21, Pizarro spent most of his career in Europe playing for Bremen and Bayern Munich. He has scored 277 goals in 647 appearances. He has won one DFB-Pokal championship for Bremen, six Bundesliga titles, five DFB-Pokal championships, one UEFA Champions League title and one UEFA Super Cup for Bayern.

"When I first came to Germany, I had a good physique but it was not easy to adapt to local football culture," Pizarro told Xinhua. "So, I tried to learn the language, the community culture and the football concept. I forced myself to get used to everything as soon as possible. I didn't speak German well at the beginning so I focused on improving my skills to earn teammates' trust with good performances in the games, and fans' support by scoring goals."

Pizarro encouraged young players to go to bigger stages to refine themselves. "I kept telling Peruvian players that they can learn many new things by playing overseas," he said. "You have a long career and you must see new things, new football, new concept and new culture to make a difference."

"It's very tempting for a player to go for a short-term goal, but if you have more than one option, you should eye the long-term future. Playing overseas, especially in top leagues like the Bundesliga, you will learn a lot of things that you wouldn't have imagined at home," he added.

During his stay in China, he will visit Shanghai, Taicang in the eastern province of Jiangsu and the coastal city of Qingdao to promote Bayern.

"Every club is based on their fans," he told Xinhua. "My job is to help more people understand Bayern's football spirit. I like spending time with fans and attending events with them."