Hernán Crespo

River Plate

Crespo made his debut with River Plate during the 1993–94 season, scoring 13 goals in 25 league appearances as River Plate won the Apertura league title. In 1996, he helped River win the Copa Libertadores, scoring twice in the home leg of the final in Buenos Aires.

Parma

Crespo left River Plate for Parma on 14 August 1996 after he won the silver medal with Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics and finished as the top scorer with six goals. He failed to score in his first six months at the club and was routinely booed, with head coach Carlo Ancelotti coming in for much criticism for keeping faith with the selection of Crespo. His faith, however, vindicated – Crespo went on to score 12 times in 27 matches in his first Serie A season and Parma finished runners-up to Juventus. The turning point was the standing applause he received for his brace against Cagliari in March 1997. Parma won the 1998–99 Coppa Italia and he scored the opening goal in Parma's 3–0 UEFA Cup final victory over Marseille. He had scored 80 goals in four seasons.

Lazio

In 2000, Lazio broke the then-world transfer record by paying £35 million (they paid £16 million in cash and transferred Matías Almeyda and Sérgio Conceição) to acquire Crespo, who in turn finished as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals. Lazio, however, failed to defend its league title in 2001, and the following season, Crespo suffered from some injuries, while new signing Gaizka Mendieta failed to live…

Crespo won his first cap for Argentina in a friendly match against Bulgaria in February 1995. He was a member of the Argentina side that finished runners-up in the 1995 King Fahd Cup, the predecessor to the FIFA Confederations Cup. In 1996, Crespo was a member of the Argentina men's football squad for the Olympic Games. Crespo helped take Argentina to the final with braces against Spain in the quarter-final and Portugal in the semi-final. However, Argentina lost the final to Nigeria, despite Crespo scoring his sixth goal of the tournament from the penalty spot. Crespo scored his first goal for the Argentina senior team in a 1998 World Cup qualifier against Ecuador and hit a hat-trick against FR Yugoslavia in a pre-World Cup friendly. Crespo was called up to the final roster for the 1998 World Cup but only made one substitute appearance, as Gabriel Batistuta led the Argentine attack. Crespo's attempt was saved by David Seaman in the second round penalty shoot-out with England, but Argentina progressed 4–3. During qualification for the 2002 World Cup, Crespo was top scorer for Argentina with nine goals as they topped the South American group. During the finals, Batistuta was again preferred to Crespo as Argentina's starting centre forward. Crespo appeared as a substitute in all three group matches, including the final match against Sweden, which Argentina needed to win in order to qualify for the second round. Though Crespo scored an 88th-minute equaliser, it was not to be…

Crespo was a fast, tenacious, powerful, and complete striker, who possessed good technique, composure in possession, and an eye for goal; he also excelled in the air. A prolific and opportunistic goal scorer, he was capable of finishing well both with his feet and with his head, and was known for his ability to score acrobatic goals. He was effective off the ball due to his work-rate, tactical intelligence, and attacking movement, which he often used to provide depth for his team or create space for his teammates; he was also capable of linking up well with other forwards. Due to his goalscoring ability and wide range of skills, he is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, and as one of Serie A's best ever foreign players. He faced several injuries throughout his career, which limited his playing time.

Nicknames

While commonly known as Hernán, Crespo was christened Hernando Jorge Crespo, after his grandfather of the same name. His most common nickname is "Valdanito", after legendary compatriot striker Jorge Valdano, as he was thought to be his heir due to their similar appearance and eye for goal. He is also, although less often, called "El Polaco" (or "The Pole"), as his family addressed him that way in his youth because of his light hair.

Coach: Parma and Modena

On 12 November 2012, Crespo announced that he would pursue a career in coaching and would begin work in early July 2013. He served as youth coach for the Primavera team of Parma during the 2014–15 season. After the disbandment of Parma, on 30 June 2015, Crespo was announced as the new manager of Serie B club Modena. He was sacked on 26 March 2016, with the club one point above the relegation zone.

Back to Parma

On 22 June 2017, Chinese businessman Jiang Lizhang bought 60% of the stocks of Parma, and assigned Crespo as the new vice president of the club. He worked for Jiang's company Desport as a technical adviser beforehand. On 2 January 2018, with the club opting to remove the figure of vice-president from its board, Crespo was named new club ambassador.

Banfield

On 19 December 2018, Crespo was appointed manager of Argentine Primera División side Banfield, on an 18-month deal. After finishing 16th in his first season, he was sacked five games into the next in September 2019, having won just one of those games.

Defensa y Justicia

On 25 January 2020, Crespo was appointed manager of Defensa y Justicia, also in the Argentine top tier. On 23 January 2021, he led Defensa y Justicia to their first international trophy by winning the Copa Sudamericana, after defeating Lanús by 3–0.

São Paulo

On 12 February 2021, Crespo was appointed manager of Brazilian Série A club São Paulo on a two-year deal. He made his…