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.

Early life

He was born in Montreal Canada 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

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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.[citation needed] His first goal for the club was scored against Atlético Madrid the next month.[citation needed] 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]