Faustino Asprilla
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| Faustino Asprilla | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza | |
| Date of birth | November 10, 1969 | |
| Place of birth | Tuluá, Colombia | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1988–1989 1989–1992 1992–1995 1996–1998 1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002 2002–2003 2003 2003–2004 |
Cucuta Deportivo Atlético Nacional Parma Newcastle United Parma Palmeiras Fluminense Football Club CF Atlante Atlético Nacional Universidad de Chile Estudiantes de La Plata Total |
36 (17) 78 (35) 84 (25) 48 (9) 22 (3) 12 (2) 12 (8) 12 (3) 11 (3) 13 (5) 2 (0) 330 (110) |
| National team | ||
| 1993–2001 | Colombia | 57 (20) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza (born November 10, 1969 in Tuluá) is a former Colombian football player. Although undeniably talented he is also a controversial figure for his unpredictable temper. He was known by his supporters in his home country as The Octopus for his uniquely flexible and fluid style. To everyone else he was 'Tino', or '2 goal Tino', as his goals usually came in twos.
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[edit] Early Years
After starting out playing football with local team Carlos Sarmiento Lora School, Asprilla started his professional career in 1988 for the Colombian team Cucuta Deportivo at the age of 18 for a year before transferring to Atletico Nacional. 35 goals in 78 games brought him to the attention to several Italian clubs who bid for him with Parma winning the race to sign him for us$4.5 million dollars in 1992.
[edit] Atlético Nacional
- Copa Libertadores Winner: 1989
- Toyota Cup Runner Up: 1989
- Colombian Championship winner: 1991
[edit] Club career
[edit] Parma
In his first Italian season at Parma, Asprilla scored some important goals, like the 25-meter second-half free kick which which Parma beat AC Milan, 1-0, ending the Italian champion's unbeaten streak at 58 matches. It was at Parma, that Asprilla arguably enjoyed his greatest club success. Asprilla was part of the Parma team that won its first international tournament, in the Cup Winners' Cup, scoring four goals in eight matches. It was his "double" in Spain that rallied the Italian team to a 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the semifinals.
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winner: 1992/93
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runner-up: 1993/94
- European Supercup winner: 1993/94
- UEFA Cup winner: 1994/95
[edit] Newcastle United
Asprilla left Parma for Newcastle United for 6.7 million pounds in 1995 where he played for three seasons and was hot one minute and cold the next. There were problems off the field too. He famously scored a hat-trick for Newcastle against Barcelona in an unforgettable 1997 Champions League game at St James' Park, which ended in a 3-2 win for Newcastle. [1]This would be the high point in his time playing for the Magpies, marking the tail end of The Entertainers era of the club but making him a cult hero on Tyneside.
Asprilla had to be officially working as a construction worker to gain a visa into Italy, where he rejoined Parma in 1998, scoring the goal that brought Milans "Invincible" run to an end. His career then wound down from that point, playing for various clubs in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
Asprilla infamously nearly signed for English League 2 outfit Darlington as a favour to the chairman who had befriended him, however on the day he was to sign the contract he fled the country and has not returned since.
[edit] Palmeiras
Asprilla played in the successful Palmeiras team in the 1999-2000 season.
- Rio-São Paulo Tournament winner: 2000
- Brazilian Champions Cup winner: 2000
[edit] International Career
[edit] Summary
Asprilla scored 20 goals in 57 matches for Colombia from 1994 to 2002[2] and played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Asprilla was expected to be one of the players of the 1994 tournament, but Colombia lost to the USA unexpectedly after death threats to the players and their families before the tie.
[edit] 1992 Summer Olympics
Asprilla was a member of the Colombian team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where the team also went out in the first round with losses to Spain 4-0, a draw with Qatar 1-1 and a loss to Egypt 3-4.
[edit] 1993 Copa America
In the 1993 Copa America held in Ecuador, Colombia finished third overall. After topping Group C with a win over Mexico 2-1, and draws with Bolivia 1-1 and Argentina 1-1, Colombia beat Uruguay 1-1 (5-3 on penalties) before losing 0-0 (6-5 on penalties) to Argentina in the semi-final. Argentina went on to win the tournement. In the third place game, Colombia beat Ecuador 1-0 to claim third spot. Asprilla failed to score in the tournement.
[edit] 1994 FIFA World Cup
Asprilla was part of the Colombian team which demolished Argentina 5-0 in a World Cup Qualifier game in Buenos Aires in 1993, a game in which he scored twice. Colombia finished undefeated in the South American qualifying group. Coming into the 1994 Fifa World Cup proper, there were high expectations for Colombia as a dark horse favorite to win the cup with a team that included such notable players as Carlos Valderrama, Freddy Rincon , Rene Higuita and Asprilla. With 1 win and 2 losses, Colombia finished bottom of their group went out in the first round. Asprilla himself had a disappointing tournament failing to score at all. He infamously walked out on his team mates mid way through the group phase. Colombia failed to progress to the next round, despite having an excellent team.
[edit] 1995 Copa America
In the Copa America held in Uruguay and won by Uruguay, Colombia again finished third. Colombia started out by finishing third in Group B with a 1-1 draw with Peru (Asprilla scored the goal), a 1-0 win over Ecuadord and a 0-3 loss to Brazil. The team then went on to beat Paraguay 1-1 (5-4 on penalties) in the quarter-finals before losing to Uruguay 2-0 in the semi-final. In the third place game, Colombia faced the United States who they easily beat 4-1 with Asprilla scoring one of the Colombian's four goals in that game.
[edit] 1998 FIFA World Cup
In the 1998 Fifa World Cup in France, expectations were again high for Colombia and Asprilla remained in the team. Again, Colombia was out in the first round with 1 win and 2 losses. Asprilla was dismissed from the team after the first game because he complained after being substituted five minutes from the end of Colombia's disappointing opening 1-0 defeat against Romania.
Following, the World Cup, Asprilla retired from international football for Colombia at the age of 31 in 2000.
[edit] Retirement and Honours
In June 2005, Asprilla officially retired to his hometown in Colombia and now devotes his time to coaching youngsters in the academy he set up himself. He has also recently appeared in various Colombian Reality Shows like Desafio 2004 and Nomadas, in which his sense of humor and charismatic personality made him an audience favourite.
[edit] Personal life
Asprilla is married to Catalina and they live in Colombia.
[edit] Reputation
Asprilla has always had a reputation as being a difficult player and a bit of a wild man. He was the first Colombian player to be red carded for fighting with an opposing player, Paraguayan goal keeper José Luis Chilavert, whom he assaulted, after a previous aggression (he spat on his face) from the Paraguayan goalie, during a World Cup qualifying match in 1997. He had frequent car accidents while in Italy, walked out on the Colombian World Cup squad in 1994 and was sent home from the 1998 squad.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Career details at National Football Teams
- International statistics at rsssf
- (Spanish) Futbol Factory profile
- Faustino Asprilla career stats at Soccerbase
- Whatever happened to Faustino Asprilla
- Interview with FourFourTwo
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