Hernán Crespo

Hernán Crespo is one of the legendary strikers of the late 1990s and 2000s in the Italian league. Wherever he played, he made his mark.

669

Games

298

Goals

Assists

Trophies

1993/96 River Plate (ARG) 79 matches, 36 goals

(Argentine League: 62 matches, 24 goals)

(Copa Libertadores: 13 matches, 10 goals)

(Supercopa Sudamericana: 4 matches, 2 goals)

1996/2000 Parma AC (ITA) 151 matches, 80 goals

(Italian League: 116 matches, 62 goals)

(Cup of Italy: 13 matches, 6 goals)

(Italian Super Cup: 1 match, 1 goal)

(Champions League: 10 matches, 2 goals)

(UEFA Cup: 11 matches, 9 goals)

2000/02 Lazio (ITA) 74 matches, 48 goals Goals

(Italian Championship: 54 matches, 39 goals)

(Italian Cup: 5 matches, 4 goals)

(Italian Super Cup: 1 match)

(Champions League: 13 matches, 5 goals)

2002/03 Inter Milan (ITA) 30 matches, 16 goals

(Italian Championship: 18 matches, 7 goals)

(Champions League: 12 matches, 9 goals)

2003/06 Chelsea (ENG) 73 matches, 25 goals

(English Premier League: 49 matches, 20 goals)

(FAC: 5 matches, 1 goal)

(English League Cup: 3 matches)

(Community Shield: 1 match)

(Champions League: 15 matches, 4 goals)

2004/05 AC Milan (ITA) (Loan) 40 matches, 18 goals

(Italian Championship: 28 matches, 11 goals)

(Italian Cup: 1 match, 1 goal)

(Italian Super Cup: 1 match)

(Champions League: 10 matches, 6 goals)

2006/09 Inter Milan (ITA) 86 matches, 19 goals

(Italian Championship: 62 matches, 10 goals)

(Italian Cup: 12 matches, 6 goals)

(Italian Super Cup: 1 match, 1 goal)

(Champions League: 11 matches, 2 goals)

2009/10 Genoa (ITA) 21 matches, 7 goals

(Italian Championship: 16 matches, 5 goals)

(Coppa Italia: 1 match)

(Europa League: 4 matches, 2 goals)

2010/12 Parma FC (ITA) 50 matches, 14 goals

(Italian Championship: 46 matches, 10 goals)

(Coppa Italia: 4 matches, 4 goals)

With the National Team :

65 caps, 35 goals

(Friendly matches: 21 caps, 9 goals)

(World Cup Qualifiers: 33 caps, 19 goals)

(World Cup: 8 caps, 4 goals)

(Copa America: 2 caps, 3 goals)

First cap: February 14, 1995 against Bulgaria (4-1)

Last cap: July 2, 2007 against Colombia (5-2)

Olympic: 6 caps, 6 goals

Hernán Jorge Crespo

Born July 5, 1975 in Florida (ARG)

Argentine, Striker, 184 cm

Nicknames: "El Polaco", "Valdanito"

The very good young Argentinian striker

Hernán Crespo was born on July 5, 1975, in Florida, Argentina. He began his career with River Plate in 1993, where he quickly established himself as a talented player with enormous potential. During his time in Argentina, he also played for the Argentine Olympic team in 1996, where he won a silver medal and finished as the competition's top scorer with six goals.

A great prospect in Argentine football, he was spotted and recruited by Parma AC in 1996, a club that was aiming to become one of the best in the world at the time. Crespo demonstrated all his qualities: his sense of attacking positioning, formidable anticipation, surgical finishing, excellent aerial play, excellent dribbling, and deflections in tight spaces.

Replacing Asprilla, the Argentinian quickly made his mark. While not achieving impressive statistics, he proved decisive. Playing at the top of the table with Parma AC, he had his finest team season with the club in 1998/99, winning the Europa League and the Coppa Italia. He scored two goals in the Coppa Italia final and one goal in the Europa League final. That's what Crespo is: a decisive player in finals. He had an excellent season, scoring 28 goals and providing five assists in 45 matches.

The good years in Serie A

At the height of his powers, the striker joined Lazio in 2000, who had just been crowned Italian champions. For $56 million, he became one of the best and most sought-after players on the planet. While Lazio certainly didn't repeat their championship feat, the player was excellent, putting in a fine season, scoring 28 goals and providing six assists in 40 matches. In his second season at Lazio, he played less but was still as decisive, scoring 20 goals and two assists in 33 matches.

With Lazio losing momentum, Crespo decided to join another major Italian club, Inter Milan. Suffering from numerous injuries throughout his career, the player suffered a torn groin shortly after arriving at Inter. In total, he played 30 matches, scoring 16 goals and providing eight assists. But he excelled in the Champions League, scoring 9 goals and 3 assists in 12 matches, reaching the semi-finals in one appearance.

After just one season, he packed his bags and joined Chelsea FC. Less prominent, he was eventually loaned to AC Milan during the 2004/05 season, where he rediscovered his form and proved more than decisive. Scoring twice in the Champions League final, he ultimately lost the match in a completely crazy and legendary match against Liverpool.

A complicated end to a career

From then on, the 30-year-old's performance declined drastically. He continued to have flashes of brilliance with the Albiceleste, but at club level, the situation was different: he struggled to reach 10 goals per season. The player finally retired in 2012 after returning to Parma AC. He was then 37 years old.

His international career was also very good, he played a total of 65 matches for his country between 1995 and 2007, scoring 35 goals and providing 6 assists. Decisive in major competitions, he still failed to win a major trophy with the Argentine first team.