Nolberto "Nobby" Albino Solano Todco (born December 12, 1974, Callao, Peru) is a Peruvian football player who currently plays for English club West Ham United. He is a popular figure in his native Peru, where he is seen as one of the most famous Peruvians. He even has a postage stamp in his name and figure.
His talents in football range from accurate crosses to accomplished dead-ball skills and he has traditionally played either on the right wing, or as a right back during his career. Solano is the first Peruvian to play in the Premier League. He is also an accomplished trumpet player and has set up his own Salsa band, The Geordie Latinos. He has described himself as an 'adopted Geordie'.
Biography
Early life
Nolberto Solano was born in Callao, the youngest of his family. His father Albino was in the Peruvian Navy, whilst his mother was a housewife who raised Nolberto, his four brothers and two sisters. He began playing football at a very early age in the streets of Callao. Before his father retired, he became a taxi driver.
Solano witnessed the Peru national football team qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup at the age of three and again qualify for the 1982 FIFA World Cup at the age of seven. The second World Cup he witnessed had the biggest effect on him. At that time he played a lot of football and his national team inspired him.
At the age of eleven, his father took him to a football try-out for the Alianza Lima youth squads. He trained with them for months, and his first game was against Sporting Cristal. He played center back and made a good impression on the coaches. Solano continued to play for Alianza until 1992. In those years, he was made captain at the age of 12 and selected to play for the national youth squad at 14.
Club career
Solano signed his first professional contract in with the Peruvian first division side Sporting Cristal in 1992 at the age of 17. Towards the end of his first season at Sporting Cristal he signed a one year contract with Municipal before returning at the end of 1993. During his second spell at Sporting Cristal the club won the Peruvian Championship in 1994, 1995 and 1996, and reached the finals of the 1997's Copa Libertadores with Solano a regular fixture in the defence. In 1997 at the age of 22 he signed for Argentinian side Boca Juniors. Here he became a teammate of the highly respected footballer Diego Maradona, who nicknamed Solano the 'Little Maestro'.
In 1998, Solano became the first Peruvian to play in England when he signed a contract with Newcastle United for a fee of precisely £2,763,958. His debut Newcastle performance came in a Premier League match against Chelsea on August 22, after 67 minutes of play, as a substitute for goalscorer Andreas Andersson.
In June 2001, he signed a new contract which would mean he could keep his place at the club for five years. A month later he scored what he later described as "the best goal if [his] career" with a solo goal against 1860 Munchen. Nevertheless he was sold in the January transfer window of 2004 to Aston Villa. He had been an extremely popular member of Newcastle's squad and many fans voiced their anger over his sale.
Solano made his debut for Aston Villa in a 5-0 win over Leicester City, and during the course of his time there he became a valuable asset, becoming their top scorer for the 2004-05 season, and was elected the club's Player of the Year by the supporters, the local press and his teammates.
Solano was re-signed by Newcastle United on August 31, 2005 from Aston Villa, just moments before the closure of the summer transfer window by Graeme Souness. The deal cost Newcastle £1.5 million with midfielder James Milner going the other way on loan to Aston Villa until the end of the season. Solano signed a 2 year contract, with the option to extend an additional year. His re-signing was met with delight by Newcastle fans, who had chanted "Nobby's" name during the unveiling of record signing Michael Owen earlier on that deadline day.
In the 2006-07 season, injuries to right-back Stephen Carr and others caused the Newcastle United 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 started his football career in defence and had featured at right-back for his country. He impressed in this position and his instrumental form kept former first choice right-back Stephen Carr out of the team. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Roeder revealed he was in talks to extend Solano's contract to the end of next season. Towards the end of the 2006-07 season, Solano signed a new one-year contract at Newcastle. However, a few months later he stated his desire to move to London in order to be closer to his family, who had relocated. As a result, on 31 August 2007, Solano signed for West Ham United.
International career
Solano made his full international debut for Peru at the age of 18, since then he has been capped 77 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 Peruvian 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.
Honours
- Peruvian First Division: 1994, 1995, 1996
- Copa Libertadores Runner-up: 1997
Notes and references
External links
Other pages about Peru international footballers
-Alberto Gallardo -Alberto Junior Rodriguez Valdelomar -Alejandro Villanueva -Andres Augusto Mendoza -Cesar Cueto -Claudio Pizarro -David Soria Yoshinari -Eusebio Acasuzo -Flavio Maestri -Franco Navarro -George Forsyth -German Carty -German Leguia -Geronimo Barbadillo -Gustavo Vasallo -Hector Chumpitaz -Henry Quinteros -Hugo Gastulo -Hugo Sotil -Jaime Duarte -Jefferson Farfan -Johan Fano -John Galliquio -Jorge Soto -Jose Luis Carranza -Jose Paolo Guerrero -Jose Soto -Jose Velasquez (footballer) -Jose del Solar -Juan Carlos Marino -Juan Carlos Oblitas -Juan Cominges -Juan Jose Jayo -Juan Manuel Vargas -Juan Reynoso -Julio Baylon -Julio Cesar Uribe -Junior Ross -Manuel Corrales -Martin Hidalgo -Miguel Miranda -Miguel Mostto -Miguel Rebosio -Nolberto Solano -Oscar Ibanez -Oswaldo Ramirez -Ottorino Sartor -Paolo de la Haza -Pedro Alejandro Garcia -Percy Olivares -Percy Rojas -Piero Alva -Ramon Quiroga -Raul Geller -Roberto Jimenez -Roberto Palacios -Rodolfo Manzo -Ruben Toribio Diaz -Salvador Salguero -Santiago Acasiete -Teofilo Cubillas -Waldir Saenz -Walter Vilchez -Wilmer Aguirre -Ysrael Zuniga
Other pages about Peruvian footballers
-Alberto Gallardo -Alberto Junior Rodriguez Valdelomar -Alejandro Villanueva -Alexander Gustavo Sanchez Reyes -Alfredo Tomassini -Andres Augusto Mendoza -Cesar Cueto -Claudio Pizarro -Daniel Chavez -David Soria Yoshinari -Ernesto Arakaki -Eusebio Acasuzo -Fernando Cuellar -Flavio Maestri -Franco Navarro -George Forsyth -German Carty -German Leguia -Geronimo Barbadillo -Gianfranco Labarthe Tome -Gustavo Vasallo -Hector Chumpitaz -Henry Quinteros -Hernan Rengifo -Hugo Gastulo -Hugo Sotil -Jaime Duarte -Jair Baylon -Jefferson Farfan -Johan Fano -John Galliquio -Jorge Soto -Jose Luis Carranza -Jose Paolo Guerrero -Jose Soto -Jose Velasquez (footballer) -Jose del Solar -Juan Carlos Marino -Juan Carlos Oblitas -Juan Cominges -Juan Diego Gonzalez-Vigil -Juan Jose Jayo -Juan Manuel Vargas -Juan Reynoso -Juan Seminario -Juan Valdivieso -Julio Baylon -Julio Cesar Uribe -Junior Ross -List of Peruvian footballers -Manuel Corrales -Manuel Rivera Garrido -Marcos Calderon -Martin Hidalgo -Miguel Miranda -Miguel Mostto -Miguel Rebosio -Miguel Villalta -Nolberto Solano -Oscar Ibanez -Oswaldo Ramirez -Ottorino Sartor -Paolo de la Haza -Pedro Alejandro Garcia -Percy Olivares -Percy Rojas -Piero Alva -Ramon Quiroga -Raul Geller -Rinaldo Cruzado -Roberto Jimenez -Roberto Palacios -Rodolfo Manzo -Ruben Toribio Diaz -Salvador Salguero -Santiago Acasiete -Sergio Ibarra -Teofilo Cubillas -Waldir Saenz -Walter Vilchez -Wilmer Aguirre -Ysrael Zuniga
Other pages about Peruvian people
-Alberto Vargas -Alejandro Toledo -Alfredo Salazar Southwell -Alvaro Vargas Llosa -Antauro Humala -Augusto B. Leguia -Beto Ortiz -Carlos Enrique Polanco -Carlos Ferrero -Cayetano Heredia -Cesar Vallejo -Cesar Ychikawa -Chabuca Granda -Christian Meier -Daniel Alcides Carrion -David Waisman -Eliane Karp -Erasmo Wong -Fernando Zevallos -Francisco Antonio De Zela -Francisco Garcia Calderon -Fulvia Celica Siguas Sandoval -Gabriela Bazan -Gabriela Perez del Solar -Gaston Acurio -Gisela Valcarcel -Gustavo Gorriti -Humberto Lay -Jaime Bayly -Jesus Zamudio Aliaga -Jorge Chavez (jockey) -Jose Maria Eguren -Jose Quinones Gonzales -Jose Santos Chocano -Juliane Kopcke -Julio Granda -Lady Bardales -Limberg Chero Ballena -Lina Medina -List of Peruvians -Lorenzo O'Brien -Luis Castaneda Lossio -Madeleine Hartog Bell -Manuel Quimper -Manuel de Mendiburu -Mar de Copas -Marco Aurelio Denegri -Maria Julia Mantilla -Martha Chavez -Martin Chambi -Mateo Pumacahua -Milagros Cerron -Nolberto Solano -Patty Wong -Pedro Pablo Kuczynski -Pietro Sibille -Pilar Mazzetti -Rafael Bejarano -Raul Porras Barrenechea -Remigio Morales Bermudez -Ricardo Belmont Cassinelli -Richiardi Jr -Santiago Magill -Sofia Mulanovich -Ulises Humala -Valentin Paniagua -Vanessa Jeri
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Nolberto_Solano
