Gonzalo Higuain

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Higuaín was born on 10 December 1987 in Brest, France, the son of the Argentine footballer Jorge Higuaín. 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. He 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. 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'. In December 2006, Spanish club Real Madrid signed Higuaín for €12 million from River Plate. 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 the 2007–08 season, he 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, scored just 57 seconds after he came off the bench. In the 2008–09 season, Higuaín scored all four goals in a 4–3 win against Málaga. He ended the season with 22 league goals and 24 in all competitions. The 2009–10 season saw Higuaín become Real's top goalscorer with 27 league goals, 29 in total, being at the same time the La Liga's second-top goalscorer, behind only Lionel Messi. In June 2010, Real Madrid extended Higuaín's contract until 2016. On 23 October 2010, he scored Real Madrid's 5,200th league goal. On 4 November of the same year, Higuaín scored the club's 700th goal in the Champions League. During the first weeks of December 2010, Higuaín was diagnosed with a herniated lumbar disc. The surgery took place on 11 January 2011, and Higuaín was discharged from the hospital the next day following a successful operation. On 23 April 2011, Higuaín scored a hat-trick against Valencia in a 6–3 away win at the Mestalla Stadium. On 31 March 2012, he scored his 100th Real Madrid goal in a match against Osasuna, also adding a second goal to make it Real's 100th goal for the 2011–12 La Liga season. In the league-winning season, he scored 22 goals. On 29 August 2012, Higuaín scored the opener in an eventual 2–1 win against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2012 Supercopa de España. On 23 February 2013, he scored his 100th La Liga goal as he scored an 88th-minute winner to secure a 2–1 defeat of Deportivo de La Coruña. On 1 June 2013, following the end of the team's last match of the season, a 4–2 home win over Osasuna, Higuaín, who scored the opening goal, confirmed that he would be leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season, after six and a half years. Napoli confirmed the signing of Higuaín on 27 July, with the Argentine being assigned the number 9 shirt. 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.

In Their Own Story

The source does not provide a specific story about his time at Inter Miami beyond stating he signed for the club in 2020 and retired in 2022. It also states he is currently a player development coach for Inter Miami.

Reader's Guide

Gonzalo Higuaín is a player development coach for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a former player, he was a striker known for his eye for goal, strong physique, offensive movements and predatory finishing. He is considered to be one of the best strikers of his generation. His career included winning three La Liga titles with Real Madrid, a Coppa Italia with Napoli, domestic doubles with Juventus, and the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea. He scored 36 goals in the 2015–16 Serie A season to win the Capocannoniere title and break the record for most goals in a Serie A season. He scored his 100th goal in Serie A while at Juventus, making him only the second player to score over 100 goals in two of the top European leagues in the past 20 seasons. He earned 75 caps for Argentina, scoring 31 goals.

Did You Know?

• Higuaín was born in Brest, France, and left France at the age of ten months; he does not speak French but retains French citizenship.
• He scored Real Madrid's 5,200th league goal on 23 October 2010 against Racing de Santander.
• He scored the club's 700th goal in the Champions League on 4 November 2010.
• Higuaín scored his 100th Real Madrid goal on 31 March 2012 in a match against Osasuna.
• He is only the second player to score over 100 goals in two of the top European leagues in the past 20 seasons.