Hernán Crespo

Hernán Crespo
Personal information
Full name	Hernán Jorge Crespo
Date of birth	July 5, 1975 (1975-07-05) (age 34)
Place of birth	Florida, Argentina
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Internazionale
Number	18
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1996 1996–2000 2000–2002 2002–2003 2003–2008 2004–2005 2006–2008 2008-	River Plate Parma Lazio Internazionale Chelsea → A.C. Milan (loan) → Internazionale (loan) Internazionale	082 (36) 141 (72) 070 (52) 018 (7) 064 (24) 038 (16) 048 (18) 003 (0)
National team2
1995-2007	Argentina	065 (34)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:22, 2 June 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 14:54, 25 January 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Hernán Jorge Crespo (born July 5, 1975 in Florida, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer who is currently playing for Internazionale.

Club career

River Plate

Crespo made his debut with River Plate during the 1993-94 season, scoring thirteen goals in 25 league appearances as River Plate won the Apertura league title. In 1996, Crespo helped River win the Copa Libertadores, scoring twice in the home leg of the final in Buenos Aires.

Serie A

Crespo left River Plate for Parma F.C. in August 1996 after he won the silver medal with Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics and finished as the top scorer with six goals. In May 1997, coached by Carlo Ancelotti, Crespo scored twelve goals in 27 matches as Parma finished runners-up to Juventus. He won the 1998-99 Italian Cup, and scored the opening goal in Parma's 3-0 UEFA Cup final victory over Olympique de Marseille. In 2000, S.S. Lazio broke the then-world transfer record by paying £35,500,000 to acquire Crespo, who in turn finished as Serie A's top scorer with twenty-six goals.

On 31 August 2002, Crespo signed with Internazionale as replacement for the departed Ronaldo, for €20 million and Bernardo Corradi.^[1] In his only season at the club, he scored seven goals in eighteen appearances, along with nine goals in twelve Champions League matches until he was shelved four months by injury in early 2003.

Chelsea

Crespo was transferred to Premier League club Chelsea F.C. on 26 August 2003, for £16.8 million. He made only 31 appearances (including nineteen league starts) in all competitions, and scored twelve goals. After José Mourinho took over as Chelsea manager for the 2004-05 season, Crespo became surplus to Chelsea's plans and was loaned to A.C. Milan, as requested by former coach Carlo Ancelotti. He scored a total of ten league goals, and netted twice in the 2005 Champions League final defeat to Liverpool F.C..

After Chelsea's failed attempts to land a big-name striker during the summer of 2005, Mourinho needed competition for striker Didier Drogba and decided to recall Crespo from Milan, convincing him that he had a future in England. Crespo made his first return appearance in a 2-1 FA Community Shield victory over Arsenal F.C.. He scored his first league goal of 2005 against Wigan Athletic in Chelsea's season opener.

Crespo in an Inter shirt.

Internazionale

Though he scored 26 goals in all competitions and won the 2005-06 Premiership, Crespo requested a return to Italy in order to rejoin Milan, but Chelsea refused and announced that Crespo would remain a Chelsea player until the club accepted a suitable offer for him. On August 7, 2006, Crespo joined Inter on a two-year loan. He scored his 125th Serie A goal against A.C. Siena on December 2, 2006, and his 200th career European goal on April 2, 2007. On May 13, Crespo scored a hat-trick to help Inter defeat Lazio 4-3 and win the Scudetto. Two days earlier, he had appeared in training without his customary long hair, which he had kept grown out for over five years.^[2]

He has scored at least one Champions League goal with each of the five European teams he has played for since moving from River Plate in 1996; he is the only player in CL history to accomplish this feat.

Back to Inter

Crespo was officially released from Chelsea on July 3 2008, following the expiration of his contract.^[3][4]

International career

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Argentina
Men's Football
Olympic Games
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition
Pan American Games
Gold	1995 Mar del Plata	Team Competition

Crespo has 66 caps and 35 goals with Argentina. He won his first cap in a friendly match against Bulgaria in February 1995, but then had to wait sixteen months for his second cap and more than two years for his first goal. He was called up to the final roster for the 1998, 2002, and 2006 FIFA World Cups. In June 2005, Crespo scored twice in Argentina's 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over archrivals Brazil in Buenos Aires, which made him Argentina's career scoring leader in World Cup qualifiers. He finished the 2006 competition as the Silver Shoe Award winner.

On June 28, 2007, he scored twice in Argentina's 4-1 victory over the United States in their 2007 Copa América Group C opener, tying Diego Maradona's team scoring record.^[5] He finished with a total of three goals.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

• Primera División Argentina: 1993A, 1994A, 1996A
• Copa Libertadores: 1996
• UEFA Cup: 1999
• Coppa Italia: 1999
• Italian Super Cup: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008
• FA Community Shield: 2005
• Premier League: 2006
• Serie A: 2007, 2008

Country

• 1995 Mar del Plata: Gold Medalist
• 1996 Summer Olympics: Silver Medalist

Runner-up: FIFA Confederations Cup, 1995

Individual

• 1996 Summer Olympics: Top Scorer
• Coppa Italia Capocannoniere: 1999 and 2007 with 4 goals in 4 matches
• FIFA 100
• Serie A top scorer 2000-01
• World Cup Silver Boot: 2006
• Primera División Argentina top scorer: 1994 (with River Plate)

References

External links

• Statistics at National Football Teams
• Hernán Crespo career stats at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase profile and stats
• BBC profile
• Crespo at AFA
• UEFA.com: Short biography

Hernán Crespo - Navigation boxes and awards Argentina squad – 1996 Olympic Runners-up 1 Cavallero • 2 Ayala • 3 Chamot • 4 Zanetti • 5 Almeyda • 6 Sensini • 7 Piojo López • 8 Simeone • 9 Crespo • 10 Ortega • 11 Delgado • 12 Morales • 13 Bossio • 14 Paz • 15 Bassedas • 16 Pineda • 17 G.López • 18 Gallardo • Coach: Passarella Argentina squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Roa • 2 Ayala • 3 Chamot • 4 Pineda • 5 Almeyda • 6 Sensini • 7 C. López • 8 Simeone • 9 Batistuta • 10 Ortega • 11 Verón • 12 Burgos • 13 Paz • 14 Vivas • 15 Astrada • 16 Berti • 17 Cavallero • 18 Balbo • 19 Crespo • 20 Gallardo • 21 Delgado • 22 Zanetti • Coach: Passarella Argentina squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Burgos • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Pochettino • 5 Almeyda • 6 Samuel • 7 C. López • 8 Zanetti • 9 Batistuta • 10 Ortega • 11 Verón • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Simeone • 15 Husaín • 16 Aimar • 17 G. López • 18 González • 19 Crespo • 20 Gallardo • 21 Caniggia • 22 Chamot • 23 Bonano • Coach: Bielsa Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman Argentina squad – Copa América 2007 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Díaz • 4 Ibarra • 5 Gago • 6 Heinze • 7 Palacio • 8 Zanetti • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Carrizo • 13 González • 14 Mascherano • 15 G.Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Burdisso • 18 Messi • 19 Cambiasso • 20 Verón • 21 D.Milito • 22 Orión • Coach: Basile Awards and achievements Preceded by Andriy Shevchenko Serie A Capocannoniere 2000-01 Succeeded by David Trézéguet, Dario Hübner