Despite spending a couple of years at Newcastle United in the mid-1990s, former Colombia star Faustino Asprilla describes his grasp of English as "terrible" and intends to do something about it.
"I'm going to spend four months in England so that I learn English," he told The National. "Then I can talk about football on English TV. I will learn in Newcastle so that I have the best English accent."
Geordie-phile Asprilla, 44, is doing media work in Brazil, covering his native Colombia as an analyst. The last time Colombia played in a World Cup finals, Asprilla was their star, at France 1998.
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He was then at Parma, where he enjoyed most of his success, but he also had a huge impact during a spell at Newcastle United.
"Great memories," he said of his time at Newcastle. "We beat Barcelona in the Champions League 3-2 and I scored all the goals. I met some great people there and the fans made me feel very welcome."
He has been impressed by his home nation so far ahead of their second game against Ivory Coast on Thursday in Brasilia.
"Colombia started really well with a win," said the man who played in two World Cups. "They demonstrated that they can win without Falcao. It was magnificent for the 40,000 travelling supporters, too. They really helped motivate the players."
Asprilla, who played 57 times for Colombia, picked out former teammate Mario Yepes for praise.
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"He's 38, but he's a rock in defence. He was our best player, with the goalkeeper Ospina, against Greece," he said. "James Rodriguez had good moments, too. All three are important for Colombia. The aim for the team is qualify from the group and match the achievements of Colombia in Italia '90."
The man Newcastle supporters call "Tino" is a fan of Colombia's Argentinian manager Jose Pekerman. "He's recovered our confidence," he said. "He made small, intelligent changes, but we are up against excellent players like Yaya Toure for Ivory Coast. We have faith."
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