INTER MIAMI FORWARD GONZALO HIGUAIN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AT SEASON’S END
Inter Miami striker Gonzalo Higuain has announced that he will be retiring from professional football at the end of the season.
The Argentine striker has had an illustrious 17-year career that saw him play across three continents starting with River Plate and then going on to Real Madrid, Napoli, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, and finally MLS side Inter Miami.
Higuain was shedding tears during his press conference this week as he talked about his retirement decision. “The day to say goodbye to football is here,” he said. “A profession that gave me so much, for which I feel privileged to have lived, with its good and not-so-good moments.”
“To me, the most important thing is not the titles, the goals, or the overall career. I take with me the people I’ve gotten to know, and the values that I know as I try to go beyond what I achieved in my career. I want to be remembered as a human more than what I’ve been as a player.”
Higuain also revealed how difficult the past few years have been with people attacking him and his family on social media. “There’s kind of a toxic feeling around football on social media,” Higuain said. You can’t imagine the damage that comments on social networks do. I was really suffering. My family helped me. So people should think before attacking on social media. It’s a really serious topic.”
The French-born striker is in sizzling form as the MLS regular season trickles to an end and said that this is one of the seasons he has enjoyed most. “It has been one of the best moments in my career and that’s something that this club gave me. The people that work here reignited my desire to play the game. I never thought MLS would give me that.”
Higuain has registered 12 goals and 2 assists for Inter Miami in the last 14 games and is aiming to carry this momentum as the team looks to get into the playoffs. The Brest-born forward will play his final regular season game in Miami colors when the team welcomes CF Montreal Impact on Sunday, October 9th. Sunday’s 2:30 pm EST kickoff game against Eastern Conference two-seed CF Montreal will decide Miami’s fate and if they advance to the playoffs.
Inter Miami manager Phil Neville said of the 6-foot-1 forward: “He’s, without a doubt, one of the best finishers I’ve ever seen, worked with or played with. He’s incredible. He has that street football mentality of wanting to train every day. He never wants a day off. Very quickly I realized he had something that you can’t coach or teach.”
El Pipita or Pipa as popularly called in Madrid, Higuain has enjoyed a prolific career in which he broke multiple records for both club and country and currently holds the record for the most goals (36) scored in a Serie A season. The two-time Juventus MVP has also scored 31 goals in 71 caps for his native Argentina and played in three World Cups, including one World Cup final. Higuain played 782 games for both club and country scoring a remarkable 361 goals and winning 14 trophies in the process.
Real Madrid sent out a tweet thanking the 34-year-old that read: “Thank you for everything you gave Real Madrid and football, Gonzalo. You will always be part of the history of this club, where you won 3 La Ligas, 1 Copa Del Rey, and 2 Spanish Super Cups. We wish you the best in this new stage of your life.”
Higuain’s former manager at Real Madrid Jose Mourinho also went on social media to congratulate the veteran goalscorer posting on Instagram: “Are you tired of scoring goals? Enjoy the rest of your life, Gonzalo!”
“Gonzalo Higuain, the pride of the River Plate hotbed who left his mark on world football,” Higuain’s boyhood club River Plate wrote on Twitter. “Thank you and the best in your new stage.”
Higuain’s friend and former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, who retired this summer due to a heart problem congratulated Higuain on Twitter. He wrote: “You had a great career that you can be proud of, Pipa Higuain. It was a luxury to have shared with you so many moments with the Argentina national team. Enjoy what is to come. There’s a long way to go!”
El Pipita spent three seasons with Napoli helping the team win one Coppa Italia and the 2014 Supercoppa Italiana. Higuain scored a jaw-dropping 91 goals in 146 appearances for the Azzurri, the eighth-most in club history, and registered 26 assists.
While Higuain’s most successful individual stint in his career is without a doubt his time spent in Southern Italy with Napoli, the forward’s three seasons in Turin with Juventus saw Higuain achieve a lot more team success. Higuain helped the team win the Serie A title in all three of his full seasons at the club in 2016/17, 2017/18, and 2019/20. He also lifted the Coppa Italia twice and guided the Bianconeri to a UEFA Champions League final in 2017.
Higuain then spent a loan spell at AC Milan in the 2018/19 season, scoring eight times and providing three assists, before going to Chelsea that same season where he scored 5 goals and helped the English giants win the UEFA Europa League title.
Higuain signed for Inter Miami on September 18th of 2020 as a designated player and has gone on to make 64 appearances for the club, 54 of them starts, and tallying 26 goals and 14 assists. Higuain scored a team-leading 12 goals in 2021 and is on pace to lead the team again with 14 goals this year.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.