Gonzalo Higuaín

Gonzalo Higuaín
GHiguain.jpg
Personal information
Full name Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín
Date of birth 10 December 1987 (1987-12-10) (age 23)
Place of birth Brest, France
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Real Madrid
Number 20
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2007 River Plate 32 (18)
2007– Real Madrid 111 (59)
National team‡
2008 Argentina U23 1 (2)
2009– Argentina 11 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:10, 29 August 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Gonzalo Gerardo "El Pipita" Higuaín (Spanish pronunciation: [gonˈsalo xeˈɾaɾðo i.ɣwaˈin]; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Real Madrid and the Argentina national football team. He is the son of former footballer Jorge "El Pipa" Higuaín, and the younger brother of footballer Federico Higuaín.

Contents

Early life

He was born in Brest, France as his father, the Argentine former footballer Jorge Higuaín, was playing for Stade Brestois 29 at the time. Therefore he holds dual French-Argentine nationality. Having left the country at the age of 10 months, he did not return to France until the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Even though he does not speak French, he holds a French passport, because his father was naturalized French. But in January 2007, he successfully applied for the Argentine nationality.

Club career

River Plate

Higuaín started playing in the youth teams and made his debut with River in a 2–1 defeat against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata on 29 May 2005.[1] Following his brace in the Superclásico derby against Boca Juniors on 8 October 2006, River Plate manager Daniel Passarella declared that Higuain had an "enormous future" and was "destined for superstardom."[2]

Real Madrid

Higuain with Real Madrid celebrating a goal scored against Atletico Madrid

Spanish club Real Madrid signed Higuaín for €13 million, after River Plate had earlier turned down a €10 million offer for the 19-year-old striker. He made his debut in January 2007 in a home game against Real Zaragoza at Santiago Bernabeu,[3] providing the assist for the goal in Madrid's 1–0 win. His first goal for the club was scored against Atlético Madrid the next month. His first home goal was a late winner in a 4–3 defeat of RCD Espanyol, which took Madrid ahead of FC Barcelona in La Liga to first place, where they finished the season.

In August 2008 Higuaín scored the winner in Madrid's victory over Valencia CF in the Supercopa de España.[4] He scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Málaga CF in November that year.[5] He became recognized for his devastating pace, dribbling, and low, powerful drives.[6] Higuaín finished the 2008–09 season as Real Madrid's top scorer with 22 league goals, and 24 in all competitions.[7]

Higuaín scored his first Champions League goal when he scored Madrid's third in their 5–2 win over FC Zürich.[8] He then scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against the same team in the group stage.[9] His second club hat-trick came in a 4–1 away win over Real Valladolid.[10] Throughout the whole season he scored many crucial goals, and he had a very big influence on that Real ended the season with 96 points. He finished the season with 27 goals, La Liga's second highest scorer, behind Lionel Messi.[11] In June 2010 Real Madrid extended Higuain's contract until 2016.

International career

Higuaín initially rejected calls from both the Argentine and French national teams,[12][13] claiming at the time he was undecided for which country he would prefer to play, before choosing Argentina.[14] Higuaín was called up by the Argentina Olympic squad for a friendly match against Guatemala in February 2008,[15] and scored two goals in his debut as Argentina won 5–0, though the match was not officially recognized by FIFA as "A" international matches.

Higuaín was selected for Argentina by coach Diego Maradona for the last 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Peru and Uruguay. He scored his first goal on his full debut, a 49th minute strike during a 2–1 win over Peru on 10 October 2009. He netted his second goal for Argentina in the 1-0 win over Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich on 3 March 2010, right on the stroke of half-time, pouncing on a mistake made by German goalkeeper Rene Adler, in which Higuain tapped into an open net from about 25 yards out.[16] Following Argentina's willy qualification, Higuaín was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored a hat-trick in Argentina's 4–1 win over South Korea in their second group match,[17] becoming the third Argentinian to score a hat-trick in the World Cup finals, after Guillermo Stábile in 1930 and Gabriel Batistuta in 1994 and 1998,[18] and the first player to score a hat-trick in the tournament since 2002. His goal in the 3–1 defeat of Mexico in the Second Round took him to a total of 4, and he remained one of the top scorers for Argentina in the competition.

Higuaín is one of only three foreign-born players to have played for Argentina in a FIFA World Cup, along with Pedro Arico Suárez[19] and Constantino Urbieta Sosa.[20]

Statistics

Club

Aas of 29 August 2010[21]

Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
River Plate 2004–05 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
2005–06 12 5 5 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 8 5
2006–07 17 10 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 18 10 11
Total 32 15 16 5 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 38 18 16
Real Madrid 2006–07 19 2 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 23 2 3
2007–08 25 8 3 2 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 32 9 3
2008–09 34 22 9 2 1 0 7 0 0 1 1 0 44 24 9
2009–10 32 27 5 1 0 0 7 2 1 0 0 0 39 29 6
2010–11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Total 111 59 20 7 2 0 21 2 1 1 1 0 140 64 21
Career Total 143 74 36 12 5 0 21 2 1 2 1 0 178 82 37

International goals

Argentina's goal tally first

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 10 October 2009 Estadio Antonio V. Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Peru 1 – 0 2 – 1 2010 FIFA World Cup Qual.
2. 3 March 2010 Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany  Germany 1 – 0 1 – 0 Friendly
3. 17 June 2010 Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa  Korea Republic 2 – 0 4 – 1 2010 FIFA World Cup
4. 17 June 2010 Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa  Korea Republic 3 – 1 4 – 1 2010 FIFA World Cup
5. 17 June 2010 Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa  Korea Republic 4 – 1 4 – 1 2010 FIFA World Cup
6. 27 June 2010 Soccer City, Johannesburg, South Africa  Mexico 2 – 0 3 – 1 2010 FIFA World Cup
7. 7 September 2010 Estadio Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Spain 2 – 0 4 – 1 Friendly

Honours

Real Madrid

References

  1. ↑ Higuain los convence a todos (Higuain convinces all) canchallena.com, 2 November 2009, in spanish.
  2. ↑ "Passarella predicts River's 18-year-old Higuain has "enormous future"". International Herald Tribune. 2006-10-09. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/09/sports/LA_SPT_SOC_River_Plate_Higuain.php. 
  3. ↑ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3271.php. Retrieved January 16, 2007. 
  4. ↑ Supercopa 2008 Marca.com. Retrieved on August 25, 2010
  5. ↑ Happy Christmas from Higuaín RealMadrid.com. Retrieved on December 26, 2008
  6. ↑ Rampant Real Madrid Maul Mallorca Goal.com. Retrieved on January 11, 2009
  7. ↑ Spanish Primera División - Top Scorers - 2008/2009 soccernet.espn.go.com. Retrieved on August 25, 2010
  8. ↑ Match report: FC Zürich 2-5 Real Madrid CF UEFA.com, 15 September 2009
  9. ↑ Match report: Real Madrid CF 1-0 FC Zürich UEFA.com, 25 November 2009
  10. ↑ Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuaín hits hat-trick to overwhelm Valladolid
  11. ↑ Spanish Primera División - Top Scorers - 2009/2010 soccernet.espn.go.com. Retrieved on August 25, 2010
  12. ↑ "La Celeste y Blanca pesa" (in Spanish). Olé. 2006-11-10. http://www.ole.clarin.com/jsp/v4/pagina.jsp?pagId=01306412&fecha=20061110. 
  13. ↑ "Domenech turns to uncapped tyros". UEFA. 2006-11-09. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=477168.html. 
  14. ↑ "Higuain to choose Argentina over France" - Yahoo sports
  15. ↑ "Higuaín called up for friendly against Guatemala". Lanacion.com.ar. http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=985239. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 
  16. ↑ "Late goal boosts Argentina hopes". BBC News. 2009-10-11. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8301221.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 
  17. ↑ "Argentina 4-1 South Korea". BBC Sport. 2010-06-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_18/default.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-17. 
  18. ↑ Richard Williams at Soccer City. "Argentina 4-1 South Korea | World Cup 2010 match report | Football". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/17/argentina-south-korea-world-cup-2010. Retrieved 2010-06-26. 
  19. ↑ Pedro Arico Suárez - FIFA competition record
  20. ↑ Constantino Urbieta Sosa - FIFA competition record
  21. ↑ Higuain Statistics. Retrieved October 27, 2008.

External links

Argentina squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup
1 Pozo • 2 Demichelis • 3 C. Rodríguez • 4 Burdisso • 5 Bolatti • 6 Heinze • 7 Di María • 8 Verón • 9 Higuaín • 10 Messi • 11 Tévez • 12 Garcé • 13 Samuel • 14 Mascherano (c) • 15 Otamendi • 16 Agüero • 17 Gutiérrez • 18 Palermo • 19 Milito • 20 M. Rodríguez • 21 Andújar • 22 Romero • 23 Pastore • Coach: Maradona
 Argentina
Real Madrid C.F. – current squad

1 Casillas (c) · 2 Carvalho · 3 Pepе · 4 Ramos · 5 Gago · 6 Diarra · 7 Ronaldo · 8 Kaká · 9 Benzema · 10 Lass · 11 Granero · 12 Marcelo · 13 Adán · 14 Alonso · 15 Mateos · 16 Canales · 17 Arbeloa · 18 Albiol · 19 Garay · 20 Higuaín · 21 León · 22 Di María · 23 Özil · 24 Khedira · 25 Dudek · Manager: Mourinho