Hernán Crespo
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60%Born
1975 (49 years old)
Birth Place
Florida, ArgentinaPosition
Manager
Status
Active
Ethnicity
Hispanic
Team Number
Height
184 cm
Weight
81 kg
Outfitter
Kit
Side
Agent
Wage Year
Player Cutout
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Sport
SoccerTeam
Al Ain
2nd Team
League
UAE Pro League
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Hernán Jorge Crespo (Spanish pronunciation: ; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail.
A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At international level, he scored 35 goals and is Argentina's fourth highest goalscorer behind only Sergio Agüero, Gabriel Batistuta and Lionel Messi. He played in three FIFA World Cups: 1998, 2002, 2006. At club level, Crespo was the world's most expensive player, when he was bought by Lazio from Parma in 2000 for €56 million (£35.5 million). He was top scorer in the 2000–01 Serie A with 26 goals, playing for Lazio.
Crespo's awards include three Serie A scudetti, a Copa Libertadores, a Premier League title and an Olympic Games silver medal. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Crespo never received a red card during his career.
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 enough and Argentina were eliminated.
After the 2002 World Cup, Batistuta retired from international football, and Crespo took over as Argentina's number 9. During the 2006 World Cup qualifying stage, Crespo scored seven times, including two goals in Argentina's 3–1 win over arch-rivals Brazil in Buenos Aires, which sealed qualification and made him Argentina's career scoring leader in World Cup qualifiers.
Crespo scored Argentina's first goal of the 2006 World Cup in their opening match against the Ivory Coast. He also scored in the next game against Serbia and Montenegro (6–0) and the second round match against Mexico. However, Argentina's run was ended as they were knocked out by host nation Germany on penalties in the quarter-final.
Crespo's final appearances for Argentina came at 2007 Copa América. He scored twice in Argentina's 4–1 victory over the United States in their Group C opener, tying Diego Maradona's team scoring record. He then overtook Maradona in Argentina's second match, scoring a penalty kick against Colombia. However, he substituted immediately after converting the kick due to injury and missed the remainder of the tournament.
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 currently Argentina'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. He was also 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. Despite his ability, he faced several injuries throughout his career, which limited his playing time at times.
In May 2005, Crespo married equestrian Alessia Andra Rossi, with whom he has three children. She is Romanian.
Career Honours
Career Milestones
 Serie A Hat-Trick 2007-05-13 | Serie A Hat-Trick 2005-01-06 | Serie A Hat-Trick 2002-03-03 | Serie A Hat-Trick 2001-11-04 |
Former Youth Teams
Former Senior Teams
1993-1996 |
1995-2007 |
1996-2000 |
2000-2002 |
2002-2003 |
2003-2008 |
2004-2005 (Loan) |
2006-2008 (Loan) |
|
2008-2009 |
2009-2010 |
2010-2012 |
Former Club Staff
2015-2016 Manager |
2018-2019 Manager |
Contracts
Fanart
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| Lazio | Appearances | Italian Serie A | 2000-2001 | 32 |
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| Lazio | Goals | Italian Serie A | 2000-2001 | 26 |
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