Gonzalo Higuaín

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Gonzalo Higuaín
Personal information
Full name Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín
Date of birth December 10, 1987 (1987-12-10) (age 20)
Place of birth    Brest, France
Height 1.84 m (6 ft +1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker, Winger
Club information
Current club Real Madrid
Number 20
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2004–2007
2007–		 River Plate
Real Madrid		 33 (14)
44 (10)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 8:51, 3 June 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 6 Feb 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (born December 10, 1987 in Brest, Finistère, France) is an Argentine-French footballer. He currently plays as a striker[1] at the Spanish club Real Madrid.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Gonzalo Higuaín was born in France while his father, professional Argentine footballer Jorge "El Pipa" Higuaín, was playing for Brest, at that time in the French Ligue 1. 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,[2] he holds a French passport, because his father was naturalized French. But in January 2007, he successfully applied for the Argentine nationality.[3] He is the younger brother of Federico Higuaín, who plays football for Club América.

[edit] Club career

[edit] River Plate

Following his double strike in the Superclásico local derby against Boca Juniors, River Plate manager Daniel Passarella declared that he had an 'enormous future' and was 'destined for superstardom'.[4]

Touted by many as a star of the future, he attracted the interest of several big clubs such as A.C. Milan, Lazio, Manchester United and Chelsea.[citation needed] After Real Madrid's capture of another South American starlet, Marcelo, rumours were mounting that Higuaín and Fernando Gago of Boca Juniors would be signing for the Whites in the future.[citation needed]

[edit] Real Madrid

[edit] 2006/2007

Real Madrid successfully signed Higuaín for €13 million, after River Plate had earlier turned down a €10 million offer for the 19-year-old striker from Real.

The striker announced at the signing of his six and a half-year contract, "it's great to have the chance of playing for such an important club as Real Madrid. I feel proud that Madrid has noticed me." [5]

Higuaín's first game for Real Madrid was against Real Zaragoza at home.[6] Higuaín shone by creating several chances and delivering the assist which resulted in Madrid's 1-0 crucial win against Zaragoza.

Higuaín's first ever goal for Real Madrid came during the 62nd minute in Real Madrid's draw with local rivals Atlético Madrid on February 24, 2007. His first home goal for Real Madrid came in the dying minutes of Real's crucial encounter with Espanyol on May 12, 2007. With the match tied at 3-3, Higuaín won the ball with a sliding tackle before exchanging a one-two with Jose Antonio Reyes and slotting the ball into the net. It was this goal which enabled Real Madrid to overtake rivals Barcelona into first place and propelled them to their 30th League Title.

[edit] 2007/2008

On May 4, 2008, with Real Madrid down 1-0 against Osasuna, and needing just 3 points from their final fours games, Higuaín came on for Saviola in the 67th minute and from a free kick, assisted Arjen Robben's equalizer in the 88th minute. Higuian then struck the winning goal two minutes later to clinch Real Madrid's 31st La Liga championship and has now become a new idol for Real Madrid fans.

Despite being Real Madrid's title hero, Higuain found himself on the bench for Barcelona's visit to the Bernabeu four days later. However, as he had in previous games, Higuain came on to devastating effect, scoring with his first touch within a minute and helped his team to a crushing 4-1 victory.

[edit] International career

Higuaín has rejected calls from both the Argentine Under 20s and French national teams,[7] like a friendly against Greece, November 15, 2006,[8] claiming he is still to decide for which country he would prefer to play.

Higuaín's international career was looking set to mirror that of David Trézéguet, whose father was Argentinian, and who was raised in Argentina, but went on to play successfully for France. When France national team call up Higuaín against Greece, they assigned him the shirt number 20, the number originally worn by Trézéguet. He has now been dubbed the new "David Trézéguet".[citation needed] Nevertheless, at the beginning of 2007 Higuaín expressed his desire to play for the Argentine side, and started the procedures to obtain Argentine citizenship.[9]

In February 2008, Higuaín was called up by the Argentina, for a friendly match against Guatemala. He scored two goals in his debut and Argentina won 5 : 0. Unfortunately, it isn't officially recognized as FIFA as an "A" international match, and will not count towards his caps and goals in international play.

[edit] Club career statistics

(correct as of 3 June, 2008)
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
River Plate 2004-05 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
2005-06 12 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 5 0
2006-07 17 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 10 0
Total 38 14 0
Real Madrid 2006-07 19 2 5 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 23 2 5
2007–08 25 8 3 4 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 34 9 5
Total 57 11 10
Career Total 95 25 10

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Higuaín defines himself as a striker", Clarín, 2006-08-07. (Spanish) 
  2. ^ "Higuaín admits he doesn't speak a word of French", Clarín, 2006-10-24. (Spanish) 
  3. ^ "Higuaín get Argentine Citizenship", Clarín, 2006-10-31. (Spanish) 
  4. ^ "Passarella predicts River's 18-year-old Higuain has "enormous future"", International Herald Tribune, 2006-10-09. 
  5. ^ Higuain nearing move to Madrid SportsNews24h.com. Retrieved on October 27, 2007
  6. ^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  7. ^ "La Celeste y Blanca pesa", Olé, 2006-11-10. (Spanish) 
  8. ^ "Domenech turns to uncapped tyros", UEFA, 2006-11-09. 
  9. ^ "Higuain to choose Argentina over France" - Yahoo sports

[edit] External links

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Real Madrid C.F. – current squad

1 Casillas • 2 Salgado • 3 Pepe • 4 Ramos • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Diarra • 7 Raúl • 8 Gago • 9 Soldado • 10 Robinho • 11 Robben • 12 Marcelo • 13 Codina • 14 Guti • 15 Drenthe • 16 Heinze • 17 van Nistelrooy • 18 Saviola • 19 Baptista • 20 Higuaín • 21 Metzelder • 22 Torres • 23 Sneijder • 24 Balboa • 25 Dudek • Coach: Schuster