Former Argentina International Gonzalo Higuain Announces His Retirement
When the MLS season comes to an end, the career of Inter Miami forward, Gonzalo Higuain, will be coming to an end as well. The news was announced in a statement from Inter Miami on Monday.
“The day has arrived to say goodbye to fútbol, a profession that has given me so much, and one that I feel privileged to have lived with its good and bad moments,” Higuain said in an open letter to the fans.
The news of retirement brings a close to Higuain’s 17-year career that has seen him play for some of the world’s biggest teams. Among the seven clubs that Higuain had played for are Real Madrid, Juventus, and Chelsea.
Higuain is now 34 years old and the level of his game has been declining since his move to Inter Miami in the MLS. The former Argentinian International struggled when he first came to the MLS in 2020, but has returned to his old form, having scored 10 goals in his last 11 matches.
Inter Miami has two regular season games left while sitting in the seventh and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. That chase for the MLS Championship is part of what has motivated Higuain to keep playing.
“My biggest motivation is to help my teammates,” said Higuain as reported by ESPN. “Retiring as champions with them would be the greatest gift I could receive as a player, because they have also been there and have helped me, they have accompanied me.”
Over his career, Higuain has scored over 300 goals across five leagues. He has also scored 31 goals in 75 appearances for the Argentinian National Team while helping get the team to three finals in three years.
Higuain started his career in 2005 when he was signed by Argentine giants River Plate. After three seasons playing for River Plate, he was signed by Real Madrid where he made 190 appearances scoring 107 goals. His scoring prowess continued at Napoli where he scored 71 times in 104 matches.
Following his success, Italian giants Juventus signed him for a Serie A record-breaking fee of $100m. At Juventus, he won three Serie A titles and was a runner-up in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League.
His goal tally started dropping at Juventus netting 24 goals in his first season and 16 in his second. As a result, he was loaned out to AC Milan and Chelsea before returning to Juventus in 2019 for one final season in Europe.
After hanging up his boots in Europe, Higuain moved to Inter Miami in 2020 to play alongside his brother Frederico, who retired after last season. In 65 matches, Gonzalo Higuain scored 27 goals and looks to get a few more before the season is over.
Inter Miami and Higuain have two regular season matches left with the final match coming on Sunday against Montreal. Tied with Orlando City and Columbus on 45 points, Inter Miami will need every drop of skill Higuain has left to secure a place in the MLS playoffs.
There was a time when Higuain was one of the best goal scorers in Europe, but always seemed to fall just short in major competitions. He will be missed by soccer fans around the world as one of this generation’s most dangerous attackers.
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