Background and career
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (Spanish: [iɣwaˈin]; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. He is a player development coach for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Nicknamed El Pipita or Pipa, Higuaín was a prolific striker known for his eye for goal, strong physique, offensive movements and predatory finishing, and is considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation. Higuaín started his career with Argentine club River Plate, before a transfer to Real Madrid in January 2007. After lacklustre performances in his first two seasons, Higuaín went on to score 97 goals in his next 146 games for Madrid, and was pivotal in the club's historic 100 points tally in the 2011–12 La Liga title win. His time in Spain saw him win three La Liga titles in total. In 2013, Higuaín joined Italian side Napoli for €40 million. in his first season, he helped his club win the Coppa Italia, which was only their second domestic honour since 1990. In the 2015–16 season, he was vital in Napoli's title race with Juventus, scoring 36 goals to win the Capocannoniere title and breaking the record for most goals in a Serie A season. Italian champions Juventus signed Higuaín for €90 million in 2016, becoming one of the most expensive transfers of all time and the highest ever transfer for an Italian club. He won domestic doubles in his first two seasons with Juventus, also reaching the 2017 Champions League final. At Juventus, Higuaín scored his 100th goal in Serie A, making him only the second player to score over 100 goals in two of the top European leagues in the past 20 seasons. He went on to have loan spells at AC Milan and Chelsea, winning the UEFA Europa League with the latter. He signed for American side Inter Miami in 2020 before retiring in 2022. Born in France to Argentine parents, Higuaín obtained Argentine citizenship in 2007, having previously only been a French national. He made his full international debut for Argentina in 2009; he represented the country at three FIFA World Cups and three Copa América tournaments, helping them to second-place finishes at the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 Copa América, and the Copa América Centenario in 2016. After no longer being called-up following Argentina's round-of-16 exit at the 2018 World Cup, he announced his retirement from international football in March 2019. In total, he earned 75 caps for his nation, scoring 31 goals.
Higuaín was born on 10 December 1987 in Brest, France, the son of the Argentine footballer Jorge Higuaín, who was then playing for Stade Brestois 29. He is of Basque-French descent through his grandfather. He left France at the age of ten months and does not speak French, but retains French citizenship. He successfully applied for Argentine nationality in January 2007. Higuaín has two elder brothers, Nicolás, his agent during his career, and Federico, who also played as a professional footballer, and one younger brother, Lautaro.
Higuaín started playing in the youth teams and made his debut with River Plate in a 2–1 defeat against Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) on 29 May 2005. On 12 February 2006, he scored his first league goal in a 3–1 victory over Banfield. Higuaín ended the 2005–06 season with 5 goals in 12 appearances. Following his brace in the Superclásico derby against Boca Juniors on 8 October 2006, River Plate manager Daniel Passarella declared that Higuaín had an "enormous future" and was "destined for superstardom". By the end of that season, he scored 10 goals in 17 league matches.
In December 2006, Spanish club Real Madrid signed Higuaín for €12 million from River Plate. His debut came on 11 January 2007 against Real Betis in the second round of the Copa del Rey in Seville. His first league game came three days later, on 14 January 2007, against Real Zaragoza at home. Higuaín was involved in the creation of numerous scoring chances and in the assistance for the only goal, which earned Madrid the victory. His first goal with Real came on 24 February when the team faced Atlético Madrid in the Madrid derby, the equaliser (1–1) at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. During his first season at the Bernabéu, however, Higuaín raised some doubts over his performance due to his overall lack of goals.
During the 2007–08 season, Higuaín played inconsistently, although he finished strongly at the end of the season: He first scored a last minute goal to earn his team a victory in a 2–1 comeback against Osasuna, which allowed Real Madrid to be mathematically crowned Liga champions for the second consecutive year. Four days later, he scored the third goal of a 4–1 thrashing of Barcelona in El Clásico. The goal was scored just 57 seconds after he came off the bench.
In the 2008–09 season, Higuaín was offered the chance to be a starter due to a serious injury suffered by Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. In August 2008, Higuaín scored the winner in Madrid's victory over Valencia in the Supercopa de España. Shortly afterwards, he scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Málaga. Because of this, he started to gain international recognition and became one of the leading goalscorers of La Liga, alongside his Barcelona counterpart Samuel Eto'o. On 21 April 2009, Higuaín played very well in the match against Getafe and scored the decisive goal in the last minute, giving Real Madrid a 3–2 victory which enabled the team to keep close to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in the league table. Throughout the season, Higuaín was regarded as one of the most promising talents in world football in the wake of spectacular games and last-minute goals. He ended the season with 22 league goals and 24 in all competitions, around as many as established football stars including Diego Forlán, David Villa and Thierry Henry.
