Sometimes you can do little else but sit back and marvel at the sheer genius of certain footballers. Today, that honour falls to the great Hernan Crespo.
The iconic figure spent time with a number of the world’s bigges clubs; River Plate, Chelsea, Lazio and both Milan sides.
300 goals across a 19-year career, prolific seems like a bit of an undersell for someone of his pedigree. 35 of those goals came in an Argentina shirt, for whom he is the fourth all-time leading scorer.
One for the record books
One of those international goals came via one of the most explosive, satisfying and simply brilliant volleys of all time.
During an olympic qualifier against Colombia in 1996, Argentina were starting to turn on the style. Matías Almeyda flicked the ball over two Colombian players before knocking it delicately back into the box.
There, waiting to pounce with an unbelievable combination of power, technique and precision, was the one and only Hernan Crespo.
Today’s the 25th anniversary of this Hernan Crespo volley vs Colombia.
— It’s A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) February 26, 2021
Sweet Lord Above. That assist from Almeyda. Then that finish.
This is a Rolls Royce of a goal.pic.twitter.com/yj8BSfSSha
As far as volleys go, it doesn’t get much better – especially given the work Almeyda does to find his teammate in the first place.
From there, Crespo scored braces against Spain and Portugal in the tournament, before ultimately falling short to Nigeria in the final.
Out of this world
In many ways there’s a good argument to be made that Crespo’s abilities has never been fully appreciated. Sure, he won trophies, but he never receives the sort of acclaim that other elite strikers do.
Nowadays he’s turned his attention towards management where he is currently the boss of São Paulo. He’s been coaching in South America since back in 2018, but who knows, maybe European fans will get a glimpse of what he can do over here somewhere down the road.
At the very least we want to see him compete in a revived Masters Football series. Make it happen, Sky.
Featured image credit: Getty
