{"id":654246,"date":"2025-12-25T14:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T14:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/654246\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T14:50:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T14:50:28","slug":"newcastle-united-cult-hero-had-to-persuade-hitman-not-to-kill-opponent-after-on-field-punch-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/654246\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle United cult hero had to persuade hitman not to kill opponent after on-field punch-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle icon was once caught up in a spat that almost turned deadly<\/p>\n

Chris Burns<\/strong> Senior Sports Writer<\/p>\n

12:00, 25 Dec 2025<\/p>\n

\"FaustinoFaustino Asprilla was involved in a spat with a rival that threatened to spiral out of control(Image: Offside Sports Photography)<\/p>\n

Newcastle cult figure Faustino Asprilla<\/a> was once embroiled in a bitter feud with Paraguayan legend Jose Luis Chilavert that threatened to turn deadly.<\/p>\n

Asprilla, now 56, joined the Magpies in February 1996, quickly earning the affectionate moniker ‘Tino’ as he became a fan favourite<\/a>. The Colombian was famously involved in a spat which truly ignited on April 2, 1997, at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asuncion, Paraguay.<\/p>\n

Their coming together was such that it later involved the former Magpies forward<\/a> attempting to persuade a hitman not to kill Chilavert after their bust-up.<\/p>\n

Asprilla had a reputation to say the least<\/a>. The forward had missed Parma\u2019s 1993 Cup Winners\u2019 Cup final victory over Royal Antwerp after injuring himself by kicking through the glass door of a bus that had hit his car.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Chilavert is one of football’s most iconic figures. The now 60-year-old scored an impressive 59 goals throughout his career, a curious stat considering he was a goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

Something of a maverick himself, Chilavert would seem more philosopher than footballer in his post match interviews. The Paraguayan captain was also nicknamed \u2018The Bulldog\u2019 for his confrontational style.<\/p>\n

In a qualifying encounter with Colombia ahead of World Cup ’98, at the El Metro in Barranquilla, Chilavert had lived up to his reputation by reserving Colombian striker Ivan Valenciano for abuse, claiming the Atletico Junior forward to \u201ceat fewer desserts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chilavert could maybe have been accused of throwing stones in glass houses. After all, his own fans even branded him \u2018El Gordito de Oro\u2019 which translated to \u2018The Golden Fat Man\u2019.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Chilavert began the tie in a fiery fashion, making several saves, fist-bumping and screaming afterwards. The game was simmering until eight minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n

Asprilla combined with Carlos Valderrama on the edge of the box before unfurling a clean strike past Chilavert. Asprilla celebrated wildly, mocking the Paraguayan fans with fake crying. Tino’s antics were not forgotten in a hurry.<\/p>\n

The two sides met again in Paraguay in April 1997 where the clash to end all clashes took place. Paraguay took the lead through an own-goal scored by Hugo Galeano.<\/p>\n

\"JoseJose Luis Chilavert had a fiery reputation <\/p>\n

Then in the 80th minute mark, all hell broke loose. Asprilla attempted to meet a Leonel Alvarez cross but rather than connect with the ball, he came down on Celso Ayala\u2019s knee, flooring the defender.<\/p>\n

Chilavert reacted angrily. Asprilla then struck his Paraguayan rival across the face as Chilavert allegedly spat at Tino in retaliation.<\/p>\n

Both players were sent off while Colombia were awarded a spot kick, with Paraguay going on to win the tie late on. Speaking about the event, Chilavert told Blu Radio: \u201cTino had stepped on Celso Ayala\u2019s knee. And I tell him, \u2018Why are you stepping on his knee?\u2019 And Tino slaps me and the referee saw it. They expelled us both and charged a penalty against Paraguay. I mean, it\u2019s ridiculous.”<\/p>\n

Asprilla said: \u201cOn the play, Chilavert spat in my face. I cleaned myself up, got up and slapped him. It was there when the referee whistled a penalty for Colombia and sent us both off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asprilla decided to watch the penalty from the bench, to Chilavert’s chagrin. The keeper then struck Asprilla across the face as he walked off the pitch, sparking a huge brawl.<\/p>\n

The Colombian bench surrounded Chilavert as the authorities attempted to ease the situation by deploying riot police.<\/p>\n

\"FaustinoFaustino Asprilla strikes Paraguayan goalie Jose Luis Chilavert(Image: DANNY GOMEZ\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Recalling the event, Chilavert said: \u201cI remember that the 40,000 people in the stadium began to insult Asprilla. When we were leaving the field I hit him and said clearly, \u2018If I catch you outside, I\u2019ll kill you.\u2019 It was a scandal motivated by Asprilla alone.”<\/p>\n

Years later Asprilla revealed in a documentary broadcast on Colombian television that a hitman shockingly made contact with him after the Chilavert incident offering to kill the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

The would-be gunman even visited Tino in his hotel room after the game, asking the ex-Newcastle star if he wanted Chilavert dead to which Asprilla firmly refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? Are you crazy?\u201d Asprilla said about his confrontation with the hitman. \u201cYou\u2019ll destroy Colombian football, you can\u2019t do that. No, no, no, no. What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle icon was once caught up in a spat that almost turned deadly Chris Burns Senior Sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[200120,94,11492,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-654246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-faustino-asprilla","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-newcastle-united-fc","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115780769550292857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}