Gonzalo Higuain

(Profile Date Posted: 28/04/2012.)



Date of Birth: - 10th December 1987.



Nationality: - Higuain was born in France, but moved to Argentina when he was around 1 years old, and after a sucessful application in 2007, is now officialy holds Argentinian nationality.



Height: - 6ft 0inches.



Position: - Striker.



Club History: - River Plate



- Real Madrid.



Linked With: - Chelsea

- PSG

- Juventus



More clubs would become interested if they knew Higuain was available, as will be the case this summer, so we could see the likes of Liverpool, Napoli, Inter etc become interested.





Estimated Market Value: - Around 30million Pounds.







Club career.



River Plate:

Higuain started his career playing for the Argentine giants of River Plate in the youth teams for around two years, before quickly moving up the ranks into River Plate's first team.



29th May 2005 - Higuain made his first team debut for River Plate in a 2-1 defeat against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata at the young age of 17.



12th February 2006 - After a long spell back in the reserve ranks, Higuain was called up to the first team the following season and scored his first league goal in a 3-1 victory over Banfield.



Higuain ended the 2005/2006 season with five goals in 12 appearances, and most appearances were that as a substitute, so he then fortified his case to become a starter for River Plate the following season.



8th October 2006 - Higuain scored his first brace for River Plate during the Superclasico derby against Boca Juniors, and from then on became a firm fan favourite, and speculation was ever increasing regarding his future and if he would sign n a contract extension to keep him in Argentina.



Higuain finished his season on 8 goals in 17 league appearances, and was then sold to Real Madrid in January 2007.







Real Madrid:

December 2006 - Spanish club Real Madrid signed Higuain for 13 million Euro's, after River Plate had earlier rejected a 10 million Euro's bid.



11th January 2007 - Higuain made his debut for Madrid against Real Betis in the second round of the Copa del Rey in Seville.



14th January 2007 - Higuain then made his La Liga debut 3 days later, against Real Zaragoza at home. Higuain had the only assist of the game, which turned out to be the winner for Madrid.



24th February 2007 - Higuian scored his first goal for Real Madrid against Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby, scoring the equalising goal (1-1) at the Estadio Vicente Calderon.



Later on in the season, Higuain showed an impressive performance by scoring a last minute goal on a league match against Espanyol to earn his team a 4-3. However, much of the season was spent on the bench, as it was clear he was trying to settle down in a new country etc.



At the start of the 2007/2008 season, Higuain struggled to gain any prolific form and was beginning to receive some negativity from media outlets and Real Madrid fans. However, he salvaged his season towards the end of the season, and began to get back into the Madrid fans' good books, as it were.



April 2008 - Higauin scored first 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 League Champions for the second consecutive year.



In the same month, Higuain scored yet again more by scoring the 3rd goal of a 4-1 demolition over Barcelona in El Clasico. This performance was particularly praised due to Higuain scoring his goal in less than a minute after coming on from the bench.



At the start of the 2008/2009 season, Higuain was a regular starter due to injuries being a major downfall in the Madrid squad, and took this opportunity with both hands, as he began to show Spain what he could really do by scoring a bundle of goals.



August 2008 - Higuain scored the winner in Madrid's victory over Valencia in the Spanish Supercup.



Just a few days later, Higuain scored all four goals in a 4-3 win against Malaga. Because of this, he started to gain international recognition and at the same time he got to be one of the leading goalscorers of the Spanish League, alongside his Barcelona counterpart, Samuel Eto'o.



21st April 2009 - Higuain had yet another great performance when he won the for Madrid in the match against Getafe with a goal in the final minute of play, giving Real Madrid a 3-2 victory which enabled the team to keep up with Barcelona.



At the end of the season, Higuain was recognised as one of the great promises of world football due to a spectacular season, and most notably his nack for superb last-minute goals. Higuain ended the season with 22 league goals, (24 in all competitions) shining alongside longtime football stars like Diego Forlan, David Villa and Thierry Henry.



In the 2009/2010 season, Higuain became Real's top goalscorer (for the season) with 27 league goals, (29 in total) being La Liga's 2nd top goalscorer at the same time, behind only Lionel Messi but surpassing his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. This season included him scoring his first two goals in the Champions league and his 2nd hat-trick for the club.



June 2010 - Real Madrid extended Higuain's contract until 2016.



23rd October 2010 - Higuain scored in the thrashing of Racing Santander in a 6-1 victory by Madrid.



4th November 2010 - Higuain scored Real Madrid's 700th goal in the Champions League.



December 2010 - Higuain was diagnosed with a herniated lumbar disc.



5th January 2011 - Real Madrid announced he would finally undergo surgery at the Department of Neurological Surgery of Chicago's Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The surgery took place on the 11th January, and Higuain was discharged from the hospital the next day following a successful operation. He was then expected to spend at least four months away from the field in the recovery process. (Two months spent to recover from the surgery and another two months to get back to match-fitness.) However, he was able to make an early comeback.



23rd April 2011 - Higuain scored a hat-trick against Valencia in a 3-6 away win in Estadio Mestalla, giving him 8 goals in 8 matches against Valencia. Higuain also assisted two other goals for Karim Benzema and Kaka in that same match, setting La Liga alight upon his miraculous early return.





10th September 2011 - Higuain opened his tally for the 2011/2012 league season with a goal against Getafe.



24th September 2011 - Higuain scored his second goal of the season in a game against Rayo Vallecano which ended in a 6-2 win for Madrid.



2nd October 2011 - Higuain scored his first hat-trick of the season against Espanyol in a 4-0 away win.



15th October 2011 - After scoring a hat-rick for Argentina a few days before, he scored yet another hat-trick in a 4-1 win against Real Betis.



29th October 2011 - Higuain scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win against Real Sociedad (away).



6th November 2011 - Higuian scored once in Real Madrid's 7-1 thrashing of Osasuna at the Bernabeu.



22nd November 2011 - Higuain scored Real's third goal in a 6-2 defeat of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. He also added another one in the last round, at Ajax (3-0).



26th November 2011 - Higuain also scored in the 4-1 win against local rivals Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby.



31st March 2012 - Higuain scored his 100th Real Madrid goal against CA Osasuna, and added a second goal to make it Real's 100th goal for the 2011/2012 La Liga season.







International Career:



Higuian originally delayed his international career as we was uncertain as to which nation he would like to represent, however, in 2007 he eventually chose Argentina.



February 2008 - Higuain was called up by the Argentina Olympic squad for a friendly match against Guatemala, and scored two goals in his debut as Argentina won 5-0, though the match was not officially recognized by FIFA as an international match.



Higuain was selected for Argentina by coach Diego Maradona for the last 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Peru and Uruguay.



10th October 2009 - Higuain scored his first goal on his full debut, a 49th minute strike during a 2-1 win over Peru.



3rd March 2010 - Higuain netted his second goal for Argentina in the 1-0 win over Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich right on the stroke of half-time, pouncing on a mistake made by German goalkeeper Rene Adler.



Following Argentina's qualification, Higuain 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, becoming the third Argentinian to score a hat-trick in the World Cup finals and the first player to score a hat-trick in the tournament since 2002. His goal in the 3-1 win over Mexico in the second round took him to a total of four, and he remained one of the top scorers for Argentina in the competition.



7th September 2010 - Shortly after a disappointing World Cup campaign, Higuain scored in a friendly match against newly crowned world champions Spain making it 2-0, in a game that ended 4-1.



Higuaín scored the equalizer against Uruguay in the Copa America quarter-finals, and scored in the penalty shoot-out after his shot had hit both posts. Argentina eventually lost the shootout 4-5.



6th September 2011 - Higuain scored the first goal on for Argentina when they beat Nigeria 3-1 in Bangladesh.



8th October 2011 - Higuaín scored a hat-trick and assisted one goal in a 4-1 win against Chile, to take his tally of goals for the Argentine national team shirt to 12 goals from 22 games.







Club Statistics:



River Plate: - 47 appearances, 20 goals and 16 assists.



Real Madrid (as of 28/04/2012): - 217 appearances, 102 goals and 35 assists.



Total: - 264 appearances, 122 goals and 51 assists.





General Comments:



Higuain is one of my favourite players in the world to date. I've followed him since his move from Real Madrid, and there hasn't been a period where he hasn't impressed me in some way. If I'm honest, I'm baffled at why Madrid want to sell him, as they're only doing it to buy Cavani, but, is there any point? Higuain can't get a run of games because of Benzema even when he scored hat-ricks etc, so why on earth are they looking at bringing in another striker? It baffles me. Nevertheless though, one mans loss is another mans gain, and whatever team sign Higuain, is gaining an awful lot. This January, Higuain was offered to Chelsea on the condition that Chelsea then didn't bid for Cavani at all, and Chelsea rejected this bid instantly. Does this mean Chelsea don't want Higuain? No, it means they'd prefer Cavani. However, if Cavani gets sold to Madrid with Higuain still in the Madrid ranks, Chelsea could well come in and bid for him, however, in all likelihood, it seems that he will end up in Italy with Juventus, or perhaps PSG. This is because they can offer him crazy wages, and minimal competition for starting places (compared to Madrid that is.) In my opinion, he is a player that could get into pretty much any team, and would do nothing but improve the level of the side, and is a match-winner, a game changer and a general predator. He has it all when it comes to being a striker, apart from bags and bags of pace. But he makes up for it with his finishing, control and general hard working attitude. I hope that Higuain one day makes the move to the PL, as I feel he'd slot straight in and dominate this league like a complete and utter tank. But hey, will it be this summer? We'll have to wait and see I suppose!



Cheers all!



Ed022-}