Legendary Colombia striker, Faustino Asprilla, has said he came up against tougher defenders during his time in Serie A compared to Victor Osimhen.
The Super Eagles striker is having an impressive season with Napoli as he leads the top scoring chart with 16 goals.
Osimhen’s goals have been instrumental to Napoli’s push for the Serie A title as they top the standings and are 13 points clear of Inter Milan.
Also, Osimhen was named Serie A Player of the Month for January.
And Asprilla, who was a star at Parma, hailed Osimhen for his impressive performance for Luciano Spalletti’s side.
However, the 53-year-old posited that he faced difficulty defenders and also competed alongside world class players while at Parma.
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“Napoli are a team that I like and Osimhen is really talented. Is he better than me? Don’t be stupid,” Asprilla told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I played in Serie A when there was Van Basten, Gullit, Baresi, Maldini, Del Piero, Roberto Baggio… To score a goal, I had to get past the likes of Baresi, Costacurta and Vierchowod. There’s no comparison between the football I played in and nowadays.
“Of the others, Rafael Leao has some good moves, but needs to be more effective, you need to score a goal after going past two men. A cross or pass into the box won’t do for me..”
Asprilla added:“Lautaro Martinez is good, but hasn’t got one hundredth of the class of Crespo or Balbo. Romelu Lukaku is all muscles: my football is about freedom, creativity and invention.
“The World Cup in Qatar was so boring too, apart from the Final. Now Kylian Mbappé, there is someone who could’ve played in the 1990s.”
Osimhen and his Napoli teammates will hope to continue their push for the Serie A title when they entertain winless Cremonese this weekend.
3 Comments
Ex footballers wrongly think there era was better than todays.
The truth is football has improved so well in this day and age.It’s harder to score today than in the past yet we have players averaging 20 goals per season an evidence on how players have developed in a modern football where coaches are conservative savvy and shrewd,this development cut across coaches,players and management.
Every retiree in football we always believe football in his own era is tougher. Not knowing the technicality involve in nowadays football is something else.
How many offside goals Baba scored in the 90s that VAR would have chalked off today?
If football these days is easier, how come Baba’s era were retiring age 30?
It looks easier to Aspirilla’s generation because they hadn’t the discipline on and off the pitch to stay fit and focused.
Then, they thougth talent was all you needed.
Go ask CR7 what is means to avoid a drink of coke or beer just to stay healthy and competitive at 37.