Wherefore art thou Faustino?

How the long-suffering Toon faithful must have wished for someone with the maverick genius of Faustino Asprilla to rescue them from a dismal home defeat by Blackburn this afternoon.

Asprilla v Barcelona

Some may remember a snowy day back in 1996 when Asprilla arrived at St James Park wearing a fur coat after his transfer from Parma in Italy. His debut, at the Riverside, saw him play for only

twenty minutes but he ran the Middlesbrough defence ragged and helped turn a one goal deficit into a 2-1 victory. He wasn't everyone's cup of tea and his rubbery legs were known to trip over the ball on more than one occasion, but in full flow he was one of the most skillful players of modern times to wear the black and white, as witnessed by the hat-trick he scored against a mighty Barcelona side containing Figo and Rivaldo . Sadly these were his last goals for United as after 48 league appearances and 11 European games, in which he scored 9 goals, manager Kenny Dalglish sold him back to Parma for £6,000,000 in January 1998.

Asprilla v Barcelona

And wherefore Tino?

Now 37, he has recently announced his candidacy for election as Deputy of the Valle del Cauca department in Cali, the third largest city in his native Colombia which he represented 57 times at international level. http://espanol.sports.yahoo.com/060119/1/16iml.html