Nolberto Solano

At 49 years old, Nolberto Solano has this physical status:

Solano signed his first professional contract with the Peruvian Primera División side Sporting Cristal in 1992 at the age of 17. He made his league debut on 13 April 1992 in his team's 2–0 win against San Agustín. Towards the end of his first season at Sporting Cristal, he signed a one-year contract with Deportivo Municipal, before returning to Cristal at the end of 1993. He was part of the Sporting Cristal squad of the 1990s during which the club won the Peru Primera División Championships (1994, 1995 and 1996) and reached the finals of the 1997 Copa Libertadores. Along with Roberto Palacios, Flavio Maestri, Julinho and Jorge Soto, he was one of Sporting Cristal's most recognized players of the era.

In 1997 aged 22 he signed for Argentinian side Boca Juniors where he became a teammate of Diego Maradona, who nicknamed Solano the 'Maestrito'. Solano said in 2004 that he would like to play for Boca Juniors again, but admitted he was perhaps too old for the ambition to be realized.

In 1998, Solano became the first professional Peruvian footballer to play in England when he signed a contract with Newcastle United for £2,480,000. Interest in his first appearance for Newcastle reserves was so substantial that the kick off was delayed to accommodate the large crowd, many of whom had been delayed after a lorry had shed its load blocking one of the major routes into the city. Solano marked the occasion with a goal. His first team debut for Newcastle came in a Premier League match against Chelsea on 22 August 1998, when he came on after 67 minutes as a substitute for goalscorer Andreas Andersson. In June 2001, he signed a new five-year contract with the club. A month later he scored what he later described as "the best goal of [his] career" with a solo effort against 1860 München. During this first spell at Newcastle, he played in the 1999 FA Cup Final.

Solano joined Aston Villa in January 2004 for a fee of £1.5 million and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club. He attributed his leaving Newcastle to a "strained relationship" with manager Bobby Robson. He made his debut in a 5–0 win over Leicester City on 31 January, ended the 2004–05 season as top scorer, and was elected the club's Player of the Year by the supporters, his teammates, and the local press.

In what was Solano's last appearance for Villa, in August 2005, he was sent off for striking Portsmouth's Richard Hughes in the face. On transfer deadline day, Solano rejected a late offer to join Liverpool and agreed to return to Newcastle.

Solano returned to Newcastle United in August 2005 for a fee believed by the BBC to be £1.5 million. He signed a contract originally for two years, but with the option for Newcastle to extend it for another year. Midfielder James Milner went in the other direction, joining Aston Villa on a season-long loan. Solano revealed that Alan Shearer had played an influential role in arranging his return.

In the 2006–07 season, injuries to right-back Stephen Carr and others caused manager Glenn Roeder to play Solano at right-back instead of his usual right-wing position. However it was not an unfamiliar playing position to Solano, as he had started his football career in defence and had featured at right-back for his country. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Solano said he would be "crazy" to move on at the age of 32, and duly signed a new one-year contract. However a few months later, he asked to leave the club to be closer to his family, who had moved to London. His one regret was that he had been unable to help the club win a trophy for the fans.

Solano signed a one-year contract with West Ham United in August 2007. He made his debut for West Ham in October 2007, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 3–1 home win against Sunderland, and was instrumental in West Ham's second goal, his shot being deflected into the Sunderland goal by goalkeeper, Craig Gordon. His first goal for West Ham was a free-kick and the fifth goal in West Ham's 5–0 away win against Derby County on 10 November 2007. In the last game of the season on 11 May 2008 Solano scored his second free-kick goal, against Aston Villa, the match ended 2–2. He was released by West Ham when his contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season having scored four goals in 23 appearances.

Although Solano was rumoured to be interesting LA Galaxy, he became "one of the biggest signings in the club’s history" when he signed for Super League Greece club AE Larissa in August 2008.

He then returned to Peru with Universitario de Deportes, for whom he scored a crucial penalty against Alianza Lima in the play-off for the Peruvian Primera División title, helping the team to a 2–0 aggregate victory to seal the club's 25th league title.

Solano returned to England, where he trained with Colchester United and with Newcastle, before, on 22 January 2010, signing for Leicester City until the end of the season. He was reunited with Nigel Pearson, who had been assistant manager at Newcastle. He made his debut as an 84th-minute substitute in a goalless draw against Newcastle at the Walkers Stadium on 30 January, to an enthusiastic reception from both sets of fans. He played his first full game in a 1–0 win over Crystal Palace on 16 March. Solano played eleven league games, scoring in a 4–3 penalty shootout defeat to Cardiff City in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg. He was offered a contract for a further six months, but chose to leave the club, preferring to follow Pearson to Hull City.

Solano rejoined former Foxes' boss Nigel Pearson, who had recently taken over the manager's job at Hull City, signing a one-year deal. Despite initial expectations that Solano would be with Hull City for only a single season before retiring, Solano revealed in April 2011, that he hoped that he would be able to extend his stay with the Tigers beyond the 2010–11 season, by combining a playing and coaching role, as Nick Barmby had done.

It was announced on 13 May 2011 that Solano had signed for Hartlepool United, having previously worked with their manager Mick Wadsworth at Newcastle. Solano, on the first day of signing, promoted the idea of Are You Coming To Pools? with Hartlepool United selling season tickets for £100, the lowest price in Football League One.

On 2 August, Solano scored in a friendly against Sunderland, rivals of his former club Newcastle United, and scored his first league goal for Hartlepool on 17 September at home against Bury. The following week, Solano doubled his Hartlepool tally by scoring their first goal direct from a free-kick in the 2–1 away win at AFC Bournemouth. Following Wadsworth's sacking, his successor, first-team coach Neale Cooper, confirmed that Solano was not part of his plans, because he needed "players who will really graft, [and] that's not Nobby's game". In April 2012, the club confirmed Solano had been advised not to play for the remainder of the season because of recurring illness.

In February 2012, he became first-team coach at Northern League side Newcastle Benfield while remaining a member of Hartlepool's playing squad.

International career

Solano made his full international debut for Peru at the age of 18, and went on to be capped 95 times, scoring 20 goals. He has been a key member of the squad since the mid-1990s but, in June 2005, Solano decided to quit the Peru national football team due to disagreements with the coach, Freddy Ternero. In 2006, he returned to the national team setup under new coach Franco Navarro. Despite his return to the national team, Solano was not selected for Peru's Copa America 2007 squad. He continued to represent the national team thereafter, but with his country having no chance at all of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he announced his decision to retire from international football after World Cup Qualifiers against Argentina and Bolivia. Solano has also stated his desire to try and guide his country to the World Cup as a coach in the near future to try to make up for never making it as a player.

Managerial career

Solano took the first step into coaching as the part-time first-team coach of Newcastle Benfield in 2012.

In June 2012, he was confirmed as manager of Peruvian Primera División club Universitario de Deportes. On 12 December, Universitario confirmed that Solano had left the club, despite the fact he guided the club into the top half of the table after being in the relegation zone when he first took charge.

In 2014, he became the head coach of Canadian club Internacional de Toronto in League1 Ontario. However, on 22 July, the club had its licensing agreement terminated due to issues regarding the payment of player salaries, ending his tenure.

As of December 2017, Solano is a technical assistant to Ricardo Gareca with the Peru national team, and taking charge as coach of the U-23 team.

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