(Football news) Current Inter Miami forward and former Argentina international Gonzalo Higuain announced his retirement on Monday, concluding an illustrious 17-year career that saw him play for some of the world's biggest clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea. Higuain recently turned 34 and will play out the rest of the season with Miami, which is currently in the playoff positions in the MLS Eastern Conference with two games left to play.
Higuain has enjoyed a revival as he scored 10 goals in his last 11 league appearances, giving him 14 goals and three assists this season. But despite regaining his form, a tearful Higuain held a press conference on Monday morning and called time on his career at the end of the 2022 MLS season. Higuain started his professional career with River Plate in 2005 after rising through the club's youth system, he went on to score 15 goals in 41 league appearances.
In 2006, Higuain was transferred to Real Madrid for a fee of 16 million, and after a slow start he turned out to be a prolific scorer for them, scoring 121 goals in 264 appearances in all competitions. He was part of a Real Madrid squad that won three LaLiga titles and a Copa del Rey title in 2011. Higuain departed after seven seasons in Madrid as he moved to Napoli in the summer of 2013 for a then record Italian fee of €53.1m. He continued his prolific goal scoring form, getting 91 goals in 146 appearances over three seasons. In the summer of 2016, Juventus activated a release clause and bought the Argentine for just under €100m. After an impressive first season he scored 32 goals but Higuain's production soon dropped off, leading the Bianconeri to loan him out to both AC Milan and Chelsea during the 2018-19 campaign.
After one final season with Juventus in 2019-20, he helped the club to a third Serie A title but his career since then didn’t take off. Higuain then moved to Inter Miami, where he has since scored 27 goals and added 14 assists in 65 league appearances. Higuain has been an everlasting presence with Argentina's national team, scoring 31 goals in 75 appearances. But despite his goalscoring exploits, Higuain lost out at the biggest prize in 2014 to Germany. In the final many blamed him as he spurned several chances, including a one-on-one with Manuel Neuer. He never won the Champions League but was part of the Juventus side that lost the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid. He was also part of the Argentinian squad that lost the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals, both on penalties to Chile. Despite that, Higuain will still go down as one of the best Argentina forwards of his generation, having scored over 300 goals at club level.
"After the most wonderful career I could have had, I feel that football has given me so much," Higuain told reporters. "Many thanks to those who have always believed in me … the time has come to say goodbye. My biggest motivation is helping my teammates," Higuain said. "I think the best gift that I can give to my teammates is to be able to retire as a champion with them because they've been there with me, they've seen me during my downs this year and they've helped me throughout this path. Not only players, but physios staff, my brother, my family and this is for all of them as well.
He added by saying "I want to retire here as a champion, like I deserve to retire and it would be a very special dream. I know there's two games left and we really hope that the fans come to the stadium and pack the stadium because it's very important for us. And then once we get to the playoffs, the story is different and my dream is to retire as a champion with all my teammates."
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