Crespo made his debut withRiver Plate during the 1993–94 season, scoring 13 goals in 25 league appearances as River Plate won theApertura league title. In 1996, he helped River win theCopa Libertadores, scoring twice in the home leg of the final inBuenos Aires.
Crespo left River Plate forParma on 14 August 1996 after he won thesilver medal with Argentina at the1996 Summer Olympics and finished as the top scorer with six goals.[7] He failed to score in his first six months at the club and was routinely booed, with head coachCarlo 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 inhis first Serie A season and Parma finished runners-up toJuventus. The turning point was the standing applause he received for his brace againstCagliari in March 1997.[8] Parma won the1998–99 Coppa Italia and he scored the opening goal in Parma's 3–0UEFA Cupfinal victory overMarseille. He had scored 80 goals in four seasons.
In 2000,Lazio broke thethen-world transfer record by paying £35 million (they paid £16 million in cash and transferredMatías Almeyda andSérgio Conceição) to acquire Crespo,[9] 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 signingGaizka Mendieta failed to live up reputations, following the departures of playmakersJuan Sebastián Verón andPavel Nedvěd. Crespo was left without the attacking support he had enjoyed in 2001, but still scored a respectable haul of goals. Lazio's financial problems, however, forced the club to sell several players, and followingAlessandro Nesta's transfer toAC Milan, speculation over Crespo's future intensified.
On 31 August 2002, Crespo signed withInter Milan as a replacement for the departedRonaldo[10] for a €26 million fee andBernardo Corradi.[11] Lazio later re-valued Corradi to €5.5 million.[12] Crespo was expected to shine again after suffering from injuries the last season at Lazio, and would be united withChristian Vieri, whileMohamed Kallon andÁlvaro Recoba. After a positive start to the season that saw Inter briefly leading Serie A, a series of injuries would end up consistently depriving the club of their two main strikers, with Crespo missing almost 3 months of the season between January and April. Crespo ultimately scored 7 goals in 18 Serie A appearances as Inter finished 2nd, along with 9 goals in 12Champions League matches as the team reached the Semi Finals.
Crespo was allowed to leave at the end of the season to join Chelsea who were looking for a proven European goalscorer. The move linked him back up with former Lazio colleagueJuan Sebastian Veron.
Crespo was transferred toPremier League clubChelsea on 26 August 2003 for a fee of reported £16.8 million[13] which also created a controversy in alleged false accounting.[14][note 1] Following the transfer, Christian Vieri, Crespo's former strike partner at Inter, claimed that the club are essentially "weakening" by selling players of such caliber.[15] He made his league debut on 30 August 2003 as a substitute forAdrian Mutu in a 2–2 home draw againstBlackburn Rovers.[16] On 16 September 2003, Crespo made his European debut, replacingJimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the2003–04 Champions League group stage, which ended in a 1–0 away win after a late goal fromWilliam Gallas againstSparta Prague.[17] Four days later, he scored his first goals, a double, in a 5–0 away victory againstWolverhampton Wanderers.[18] Crespo made 73 appearances (26 as a substitute) in all competitions, scoring 25 goals.
In scoring a Champions League goal with Milan, Crespo became the first player to score with five teams in the competition, doing so with each of the sides he had played for since moving from South America to Europe in 1996.[21]
After Chelsea's failed attempts to land a big-name striker during the summer of 2005, Mourinho needed competition for 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 2–1FA Community Shield win overArsenal.[22] He scored his first league goal of 2005 against newly promotedWigan Athletic in the 93rd minute of Chelsea's season opener in a 1–0 win, with a left foot curler into the top corner from 25 yards.[23] The2005–06 league title was Crespo's first league title victory in European football.
Though he scored 13 goals in all competitions and won the 2005–06 Premier League, 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 7 August 2006, Crespo re-joined Inter on a two-year loan. He scored his 125th Serie A goal againstSiena on 2 December 2006, and his 200th career goal in Europe on 2 April 2007. On 13 May, Crespo scored a hat-trick to help Inter defeat Lazio 4–3 and win theScudetto.
Crespo was released from Chelsea on 3 July 2008, following the expiration of his contract,[24][25] and was signed by Inter on a one-year contract for free. In the2008–09 season, under José Mourinho, his former manager at Chelsea, Crespo only made 13Serie A appearances, including two starts. He was excluded from theChampions League squad.
Following the expiration of his contract at Inter, Crespo was quickly snapped up byGenoa, takingDiego Milito's place, who moved in the opposite direction. On 8 June 2009, it was reported that Crespo had a medical check to formalize his transfer. Crespo cited his ambition to make the Argentina 2010 World Cup squad as one of his key reasons for making the move to Genoa.[26] On 13 September, Crespo scored his first goal of the 2009 season againstNapoli.[27]
In January 2010, Crespo returned to Parma after the club agreed the deal withAtalanta and Genoa. Crespo replacedNicola Amoruso who left for Atalanta, while Atalanta'sRobert Acquafresca moved to Genoa to replace Crespo. The Argentine striker returned after ten years to Parma. Crespo scored just once before the season's end, againstLivorno. The striker enjoyed a more successful2010–11 season, scoring eleven goals. In doing so, he became Parma's top scorer for a fourth time, which remains a post-war club record. Despite mounting speculation of his departure, Crespo signed a one-year contract extension on 30 June 2011.[28] However, a lack of first-team opportunities saw Crespo and Parma mutually agree to terminate his contract on 2 February 2012, although he did vow to return to the city he had fallen in love with.[29] He is the club's all-time record goalscorer with 94 goals in 201 appearances.
Although Crespo was signed to play inBengal Premier League Soccer in late January 2012, with a salary of £533,000 for the two-month tournament, the competition never got underway.[30] He clarified that his career as a footballer had finished in November 2012.[31]
Duringqualification for the2002 World Cup, Crespo was top scorer for Argentina with nine goals as they topped theSouth American group.[35] During the finals, Batistuta was again preferred to Crespo as Argentina's starting centre forward. Crespo appeared as a substitute in all threegroup matches, including thefinal match againstSweden, 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 enough and Argentina were eliminated.[36]
After the 2002 World Cup, Batistuta retired from international football,[37] and Crespo took over as Argentina's number 9. During the2006 World Cupqualifying stage, Crespo scored seven times, including two goals in Argentina's 3–1 win overarch-rivalsBrazil in Buenos Aires, which sealed qualification and made him Argentina's career scoring leader in World Cup qualifiers.[38]
Crespo's final appearances for Argentina came at2007 Copa América. He scored twice in Argentina's 4–1 victory over theUnited States in theirGroup C opener, tyingDiego Maradona's team scoring record.[42] He then overtook Maradona in Argentina's second match, scoring a penalty kick againstColombia. However, he substituted immediately after converting the kick due to injury and missed the remainder of the tournament.[43]
After the Copa América, Crespo did not receive any further call-ups to the national team and ended his international career with 35 goals in 64 matches, being currentlyArgentina's fourth highest goalscorer of all time.
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.[44][45][46][47] 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;[48] he was also capable of linking up well with other forwards.[47] 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.[49] He faced several injuries throughout his career, which limited his playing time.[46][50]
While commonly known as Hernán, Crespo was christened Hernando Jorge Crespo, after his grandfather of the same name.[citation needed] His most common nickname is "Valdanito", after legendary compatriot strikerJorge Valdano, as he was thought to be his heir due to their similar appearance and eye for goal.[44] 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.[51]
On 12 November 2012, Crespo announced that he would pursue a career in coaching and would begin work in early July 2013.[31]
He served as youth coach for the Primavera team ofParma during the2014–15 season. After the disbandment of Parma, on 30 June 2015, Crespo was announced as the new manager ofSerie B clubModena.[54] He was sacked on 26 March 2016, with the club one point above the relegation zone.[55]
On 22 June 2017, Chinese businessmanJiang 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.[56]
On 2 January 2018, with the club opting to remove the figure of vice-president from its board, Crespo was named new club ambassador.[57]
On 19 December 2018, Crespo was appointed manager ofArgentine Primera División sideBanfield, on an 18-month deal.[58] 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.[59]
On 25 January 2020, Crespo was appointed manager ofDefensa y Justicia, also in the Argentine top tier.[60] On 23 January 2021, he led Defensa y Justicia to their first international trophy by winning theCopa Sudamericana, after defeatingLanús by 3–0.[61]
On 12 February 2021, Crespo was appointed manager of BrazilianSérie A clubSão Paulo on a two-year deal.[62] He made his debut 16 days later on the first day of theCampeonato Paulista, in a 1–1 home draw withBotafogo.[63] He won the title on 23 May, after a 2–0 aggregate victory overPalmeiras; this was the club's first honour in nine years, and the first in the competition since2005.[64]
On 13 October 2021, Crespo left São Paulo by a mutual agreement.[65] The club were 13th in the national league after 25 games, and he was replaced by team iconRogério Ceni.[66]
After leaving Al-Duhail Crespo was signed by Al Ain in November 2023. He then led the team to theAsian Champions League final, where they beatYokohama F. Marinos. In the 2024–25 season following some bad results, including a 5–1 defeat toCristiano Ronaldo'sAl Nassr, the club decided to dismiss him.[70]
Il bulgaro che fu re di Parma per un giorno (The Bulgarian who was king of Parma for a day), byLuca Farinotti,Parma, Diabasis, 2019, Anthology Parma The Capital of Culture 2020.ISBN978-88-8103-948-7, is the novel of the true story of Crespo's farewell football match.[74][75] The tale's title comes from the winning assist by the BulgarianValeri Bojinov to Crespo at the last second.[76]
^Inter bought Crespo for €38 million accounting value; however, the club split the amount in February 2003 into reported €4.45 million (which would amortize normally according to the length of player contract: i.e. proportionality, zero which his contract expires), and €33.55 million inspecial amortization fund in 10-year equal installment (which, although most of the players would leave the club within 10 years, the fund still appeared as an asset in balance sheet). Inter sold Crespo for an undisclosed fee, which created a huge profit if considering Crespo's value of below €4.45 million (the value weathered after his contract had excised for one year), but if considering Crespo left the club but still "worth" €30.195 million residual asset "value" in the special fund, the deal would create a huge loss. The auditor also wrote in a 2003–04 financial report that if the departure of Crespo combined with removing the value in the special fund would create a loss ofc. €18.8 million ("qualora detta plusvalenza fosse state imputata a riduzione della voce "Oneri pluriennali da svalutazione diritti: sarebbe scaturita una maggior perdita dic. €18.8 millioni")
^"Chelsea sign Crespo".BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 August 2003. Retrieved15 May 2011.
^"Crespo-Morfeo, indagine sui contratti" [Crespo-Morfeo, investigation into contracts].La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 26 January 2007. Retrieved18 September 2012.
^Enrico Bonifazi (16 June 2013)."Nemici Storici: Hernan Crespo" [Historic Enemies: Hernan Crespo] (in Italian). DNA Milan. Archived fromthe original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved20 July 2015.
^abFabrizio Maffei."CRESPO, Hernan Jorge" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia dello Sport (2002). Retrieved19 January 2017.
^ab"Hernan Crespo".BBC Sport. 9 April 2002. Retrieved3 November 2017.
^Andrea Schianchi (28 September 2004)."Cercasi anima gemella per Sheva" [Looking for a soulmate for Sheva].La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved19 January 2017.
^Antonio Labbate (3 February 2012)."Arrivederci Crespo". Football Italia. Retrieved20 July 2015.
^Roberto Di Maggio; Igor Kramarsic; Alberto Novello (11 June 2015)."Italy – Serie A top scorers".RSSSF.Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved2 December 2015.
^Karel Stokkermans (14 March 2007)."ESM XI".RSSSF.Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved29 November 2015.
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