Not all footballers crave the spotlight. James Wilson has realised that Faustino Asprilla is happier away from media attention

Colombia do not play their home games in the capital, Bogotá. Instead they have adopted Barranquilla, a coastal city of tropical languor, as their base. It is a welcoming city. Gabriel Garcia Marquez once lived in a brothel here. Outside the Dann, the nondescript suburban hotel where the players were staying before flying off to Paraguay for the World Cup game, a banner strung across the street said: “The Colombian squad is here.” So were a lot of military police.

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European competition hasn't always been comprised of the continent's biggest clubs. Joe Ferrari looksback at Norwich City's remarkable run

The Heysel disaster having denied us three times, Norwich finally reached Europe after finishing third in 1992-93. And what an Odyssey it turned out to be, started fittingly amongst the familiar surroundings of Carrow Road in September 1993 and ending on a surreal night three months later with ‘On The Ball City!’ reverberating around the San Siro.

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Newcastle don't have happy memories from their last European campaign. Ian Cusack explains why

The last trophy Newcastle United won was the 1968-69 Fairs Cup, now the UEFA Cup. Defending the trophy the next season, The Toon went out on away goals to Anderlecht in the quarter-finals. Most people probably imagine that was the extent of Newcastle’s European experience until 1994’s comedy defending allowed Athletic Bilbao to come back from the dead to win on away goals.

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Man City were playing in European competition 20 years ago, and Steve Parish remembers the days well

Fenerbahce? Who? There I was, just started working for British Rail in 1968, cheap Continental travel in prospect and Man City in the European Cup (“we’ll frighten Europe”© Malcolm Allison) and who do we play? Some Turkish team no-one’s heard of. Blow that, I thought. I’ll wait for the next round and go to Munich, or Madrid or Lisbon. A year later…

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Playing in Europe is financially beneficial, but Mike Ticher remembers when money wasn't the driving force

Chelsea are in Europe. Ho hum. Once I would have camped out overnight to see them play Slovan Bratislava, or even IB Vestmannaeyja. Maybe it will all seem different when it starts, but somehow the prospect of those Thursday night specials now fills me with little more than a nagging feeling that I’ve got better things to spend £21 on. European club competitions in their heyday were pure theatre. But one by one, for good reasons and bad, all the elements that made them so special have been leached away.

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