Faustino Asprilla

Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza (born 10 November 1969) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as forward or winger, most notably for Parma, Newcastle United and the Colombia national team.

After starting out playing football with local team Carlos Sarmiento Lora School, Asprilla started his professional career in 1988 for the Colombian team Cúcuta Deportivo at the age of 18 for a year before transferring to Atlético Nacional.

He scored 35 goals in 78 games, which brought him to the attention of several Italian clubs.

He is considered one of the greatest players of Parma's successful period in the 1990s.

Parma won the race to sign him for US$10.9 million in 1992.

In his first season at Parma, Asprilla scored some important goals, including a 27-yard second-half free-kick which helped Parma defeat Milan 1–0, ending the Italian champions' unbeaten streak at 58 matches.

It was at Parma Asprilla arguably enjoyed his greatest club success.

Asprilla was part of the Parma squad which won its first international tournament, the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup, scoring four goals in eight matches.

It was his brace in Spain that rallied the Italian team to a 2–1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the semi-final.

However, an injury meant he was an unused substitute as Parma defeated Belgian club Royal Antwerp 3–1 in the final.

He also won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992–93, as well as a runners-up medal in 1993–94 edition of the tournament, the European Super Cup in 1993, and the UEFA Cup in 1994–95 and 1998–99.

Also in the 1993–94 season, Parma reached a second Cup Winners' Cup final.

However, a 0–1 defeat to Arsenal meant they would not retain their trophy.

In 1993, he was also ranked by FIFA as the sixth-best player in the world in the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

In early 1994, Asprilla was part of the Parma side that defeated Milan 2–0 at the San Siro to overturn a 1–0 first-leg deficit and claim the 1993 European Super Cup.

In 1994–95, Parma again reached the final of a major European competition as they faced Italian compatriots Juventus in the final of the UEFA Cup.

Asprilla was instrumental in Parma's run to the final, with three goals over two legs in the semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen.

In the final itself, Asprilla was in the starting XI for both legs as Parma defeated Juventus 2–1 on aggregate.

In his three full seasons with the club, Parma finished third, fifth and third in Serie A. The club also reached a European final in each of those seasons, as well as the 1994–95 Coppa Italia final.

At the start of the 1995–96 season, Asprilla found himself out of head coach Nevio Scala's plans.

However, his time on Tyneside was blighted by inconsistency and off-field incidents, and Asprilla was blamed as one of the reasons Newcastle would go on to concede the 1995–96 Premier League title to eventual winners Manchester United.

Asprilla's second season for Newcastle ended with the club finishing in second place once again, behind Manchester United.

His role was largely reduced to substitute appearances, although he retained his best performances for the club's UEFA Cup campaign, scoring five goals.

His celebration of the goal he scored against Metz, whereby he removed his shirt and swung it from a corner flag, resulted in Asprilla being given a yellow card, meaning a suspension from Newcastle's next UEFA Cup match against Monaco.

In February 1996, after making only six appearances in the opening five months of the season, Asprilla joined English Premier League leaders Newcastle United for a £6.7 million transfer fee.

During his first spell at Parma, Asprilla scored 25 goals in 84 Serie A appearances.

Parma sold Asprilla to English Premier League side Newcastle United for £6.7 million in February 1996, with "Tino", as the fans nicknamed him, appearing at St James' Park to finalise the move during a snowstorm, dressed in a woolen coat.

At the time, Newcastle were ahead of Manchester United in the Premier League, although their lead at the top of the table was narrowing.

Asprilla's arrival on Tyneside came just months after earlier media reports of a move to England, with Leeds United being linked with his signature.

Asprilla made his league debut in Newcastle's 2–1 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on 10 February 1996, coming on as a second-half substitute with the score 1–0 in Middlesbrough's favour.

He made an immediate impact, creating the assist for Newcastle's equaliser.

The 1997–98 season was Asprilla's last for Newcastle.

With the sale of striker Les Ferdinand to Tottenham Hotspur and a serious injury to Alan Shearer during the pre-season, Asprilla was preferred as first-choice striker alongside the young, inexperienced Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Newcastle's second-place league finish the season before meant they qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League; Asprilla started the first game against Barcelona and scored a hat-trick in a 3–2 win.

These would turn out to be his last goals for the club.

By the end of January 1998, with Newcastle struggling in the league and eliminated from the Champions League, Asprilla's time at Newcastle came to an end.

He was sold back to Parma for £6 million, having scored a total of nine goals in 48 Premier League appearances and nine goals in 11 European matches.

In his second spell at Parma, Asprilla won his second UEFA Cup, coming on as a substitute as Parma defeated Marseille in the final.

Asprilla played in the successful Palmeiras team in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

He won both the Rio-São Paulo Tournament and the Brazilian Champions Cup in 2000.