The Colombian is unfairly bracketed with Rodney Marsh as a signing that stopped a team’s momentum to the title. Kevin Keegan added the Parma forward to his fantasy football lineup in 1996 just as the Magpies began to implode on the championship run in. Known as ‘The Octopus’ in Colombia for his loose-limbed, unorthodox approach, Asprilla provided a walking definition of the word enigma.
The international striker didn’t have a word of English and being a Colombian saw nothing unusual in carrying a handgun- something his Toon minders soon had to have words about. Always unpredictable, he once drew a suspension after being booked for celebrating a goal by removing his shirt and hoisting it skyward with the corner flag.
He remains a Tyneside legend for an unforgettable hat-trick that beat Barcelona in St. James’ Park's first Champions League game but these were his last goals for the club. Never likely to be Kenny Dalglish’s sort of player, ‘Tino’ returned to Parma in early 1998. He couldn’t recapture the form that made him one of Serie A’s most exciting talents – he won UEFA Cup and Cup-Winners Cup medals in his first spell in Italy where he played with another player who became a misfit in English football, the Swede Thomas Brolin.
His career took him on to Palmeiras in Brazil and he had an excellent scoring record for the national side with 20 goals in 57 internationals. His last port of call has been for his hometown team Tulua, although he nearly came back to the North-East for Darlington. Asprilla agreed a deal with chairman George Reynolds only to make an early morning flit on a flight to Colombia, complaining that he couldn’t live on the wages offered.
The international striker didn’t have a word of English and being a Colombian saw nothing unusual in carrying a handgun- something his Toon minders soon had to have words about. Always unpredictable, he once drew a suspension after being booked for celebrating a goal by removing his shirt and hoisting it skyward with the corner flag.
He remains a Tyneside legend for an unforgettable hat-trick that beat Barcelona in St. James’ Park's first Champions League game but these were his last goals for the club. Never likely to be Kenny Dalglish’s sort of player, ‘Tino’ returned to Parma in early 1998. He couldn’t recapture the form that made him one of Serie A’s most exciting talents – he won UEFA Cup and Cup-Winners Cup medals in his first spell in Italy where he played with another player who became a misfit in English football, the Swede Thomas Brolin.
His career took him on to Palmeiras in Brazil and he had an excellent scoring record for the national side with 20 goals in 57 internationals. His last port of call has been for his hometown team Tulua, although he nearly came back to the North-East for Darlington. Asprilla agreed a deal with chairman George Reynolds only to make an early morning flit on a flight to Colombia, complaining that he couldn’t live on the wages offered.
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