Though not a prolific scorer, Gonzalo Higuain has built a reputation as a scorer of crucial goals, writes Mike Perez.
There can be few better ways to get off the mark for your new club than the way Gonzalo Higuain managed with Real Madrid just over 18 months ago.
The pressure was starting to build on Higuain after failing to score in his first eight appearances following his 13million euro move from River Plate during the winter of 2006, but Fabio Capello, who was then Real Madrid coach, persisted with him for the crunch derby match at Atletico on February 24.
Capello himself was also under huge pressure, with media reports even suggesting he had offered to resign in the lead-up to the game after out-of-sorts Madrid had won just once in their previous four league games.
And it looked set to be another bad day at the office for Madrid when Atletico — who had not beaten their local rivals in a league game at the Vicente Calderon since the 1998-99 season — laid siege to the visitors’ goal in the opening 20 minutes and took a 1-0 deserved lead through Fernando Torres.
Los Merengues needed a hero to stand up, and that man proved to be Higuain. He picked up a pass from substitute Antonio Cassano in the 62nd minute and then, having shrugged off the attentions of his marker, clinically finished past Leo Franco to silence the home crowd and earn a 1-1 draw for his side.
“It was a vital goal for Higuain and for the team,” said Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic at the time, but he could not have known just how prophetic that statement would turn out to be.
Following that draw at the Vicente Calderon, Madrid would go on to win 10 of their final league 14 games — losing just once — en route to claiming their first Primera Liga title in four years on the final day of the campaign.
To suggest Higuain’s first-ever Madrid goal was the turning point of the season might be straining credulity, but it certainly afforded Capello some much-needed breathing space, and it also endeared this young Argentinian newcomer to an uncertain Bernabeu faithful.
Since then, Higuain has not been a prolific scorer but he has built a reputation as a scorer of crucial goals. He netted only once more in his debut season, but his last-minute strike against Espanyol earned Madrid a 4-3 triumph and helped the Spanish giants move to the top of the standings with just four games remaining — a position Madrid would never surrender.
Higuain said after opening his home account: “I have no words to describe how happy I feel. You always dream of scoring such an important goal on a night like this. It has given me tremendous joy to be able to celebrate with the Madrid supporters.”
Last season was a similar story of the player gifted with the golden touch. Higuain scored nine league goals in nine different games, all of which Madrid won, and included a prolific spell at the end of the campaign when he scored six times in seven matches.
Undoubtedly the most important, not to mention dramatic, of those late-season goals came in the 2-1 win against Osasuna at the Reyno de Navarra stadium.
Higuain started the game as a sub but ended it as a hero as his 89th-minute winner not only helped 10-man Madrid overcome a 1-0 deficit, but also clinched the club’s 31st Primera Liga title in the process.
All that has helped establish Higuain as a popular, vital and versatile — he has been utilised in midfield as much as up front — member of the Madrid squad, although that still has not stopped Bernd Schuster’s side being linked with a host of big-name strikers over the last year.
David Villa, Luis Fabiano, Diego Milito, Didier Drogba, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar — the list of supposed transfer targets goes on, but not one of those players arrived at the Bernabeu this summer, and that can only be good news for Higuain.
Only 20, Higuain has started five of Madrid’s six league games so far this season and, although he is still far from the finished article, the signs are promising he can provide able back-up to experienced duo Ruud van Nistelrooy and Raul.
“All of us 24 players have to be fit all the time because we have many games this year and we will all have a chance to play. The good thing is many of us are scoring the team’s goals, as opposed to just one or two players,” said Higuain following his strike in the recent 7-1 win over Sporting Gijon.
Higuain’s impressive progress at Madrid should also see him earn international recognition with Argentina sooner rather than later.
Higuain was actually born in France while his father was playing for Brest, but he has rejected the chance to represent Les Bleus in order to chase his dream of wearing the Argentina shirt.
“Even though France is the country where I was born and I deeply respect them, my heart is Argentinian,” he said after being granted Argentinian citizenship last year.
“I’ve grown up in Argentina, studied in Argentina, lived my best moments in Argentina. I know I’m French, but the only difference is that now I can play for my national team.
“I am hoping to play for the national team. It’s every player’s dream. I am motivated and I want to do my best and play. I dream every day about playing in the national shirt.”
Higuain’s less glitzy style of play may not attract as much attention as many of his fellow South American imports to Europe, but if he continues to progress as he has been doing and continues his knack of scoring vital goals, then Madrid and Argentina could have a star in the making for the next decade and beyond.
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