On Monday, Gonzalo Higuaín fought back tears as he announced his retirement from professional football. The 34-year-old Argentine will finish the current season with Inter Miami, then call an end to his decorated 17-year career.
“It’s time for me to say goodbye to football,” Higuaín told reporters in Miami. “It’s a profession that has given me so much. I feel privileged to have experienced it. The good times and the not so good times.”
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It was appropriate for Higuaín to reference that his career had been a mixed bag of highs and lows. His image in world football is complex. His well-polished style of play as a center forward helped him win titles as he played with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, earning the respect of two of the game’s all-time greats.
Higuaín scored a combined 226 goals during spells with Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus, winning a total of 13 titles. His 36-goal season for Napoli in 2015-2016 proved that he was one of the world’s elite strikers at the time.
However, to many, Higuaín remains synonymous with disappointment on football’s biggest stages. It led to vitriolic criticism on social media wherever he played, but especially in Argentina. In Spain he wasn’t clinical enough. In Italy he was scrutinized for his weight.
“They were very strict about (weight) at Juventus,” Higuaín told Argentine network TyC in June. “There were always pictures of me out there. Then I’d score 30 goals a year! I loved seeing those pictures because I knew how the movie was going to end.”
Higuaín’s confidence and passionate play style made it seem like he was unfazed by the criticism. In reality, as he now reveals, it was all affecting his self-esteem.
At the international level, Higuaín made 75 appearances for Argentina and was part of three World Cup squads (2010, 2014 and 2018). He currently ranks sixth all-time in goals scored for his country, with 31 (three less than Maradona). Higuaín retired from the Argentina national team in 2019 after a nine-year international career.
His time with Argentina featured both massive goals in big moments and wasted chances during two Copa América final losses to Chile and a devastating World Cup final defeat to Germany in 2014.
“I want to enjoy my family and myself,” Higuaín said when he eventually left the national team. “My cycle is done. Perhaps some will be happy and others won’t not be.”
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That comment three years ago showed that Higuaín was aware of his reputation. Despite scoring over 250 goals for club and country, his critics in Argentina remember Higuaín for the chances that he failed to convert in three consecutive international finals.
Those Argentine teams featured Messi, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, and Ángel Di Maria, among others. It was one of Argentina’s best generations of players, but for so many around the world, Higuaín was the sole scapegoat for those high-profile disappointments.
In an interview with The Athletic in September of 2020, Jorge Higuaín, Gonzalo’s father, said those teams had been judged unfairly.
“In Argentina they mistreated a generation of players that played in three finals — a generation of players who carried the Argentine flag in Europe,” Jorge said. “That type of reaction doesn’t allow the sport to make progress.”
Perhaps Higuaín’s story would be different if his goal against Germany at the Maracaná had not been ruled offside. Instead, Higuaín’s misses have unfortunately defined an otherwise stellar career.
He told ESPN Argentina in August that he had removed himself completely from social media “because people aren’t aware of the damage it can cause.”
“It produces many of ugly things,” he said. “I lived it. I suffered through it. I won’t tolerate it anymore. No one deserves that type of disrespect. If you’re going to criticize me, then accept my response. If not, don’t criticize me.”
In a subsequent interview with the network during the September FIFA window, Higuaín said that missing those chances for Argentina didn’t make him “unhappy or distressed.” It was the backlash that he faced — what he described as “bullying” — that affected him the most.
On Monday, Higuaín said that football has become even more toxic. “I’ve suffered through this first hand,” he said. His outlook on social media abuse wasn’t very optimistic, either.
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“I don’t think that it’ll ever change,” said Higuaín. “The only thing that I ask, or that I feel, is that people should be more conscious before commenting or posting something because they don’t know the irreparable damage that it can cause other people. Five seconds behind a keyboard can ruin people. It’s something that will never change because those anonymous (keyboard warriors) will exist forever.”
He’s right. There’s no end in sight to online bullying. And for footballers, it can be especially hostile. After England lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy last summer, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who are Black, were all racially abused online. All three players missed their penalties during the shootout loss. One man was charged with a hate crime for his comments towards Rashford on Twitter. After the loss, Saka released a statement condemning the abuse.
“To the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter: I don’t want any child or adult to receive the hateful and hurtful messages that me, Marcus and Jadon have received,” Saka wrote. “I knew instantly the kind of hate I was about to receive and that is a sad reality that your powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages.”
Hurting people sells, Higuaín said.
During his retirement announcement, Higuaín revealed why he has finally broken his silence.
“It was time to talk about it because there are a lot of people who can’t,” he said. “Those who can’t defend themselves, who can’t talk, and so they don’t tell anyone. It would make me very proud if talking about this leads to a (positive) reaction from just one person. My wife and my daughter helped me succeed. But there are people who don’t succeed.”
Higuaín’s retirement announcement coincides with his best form since signing for Inter Miami in 2020. He told ESPN Argentina that being in MLS led to what he called “ an incredible moment” in his life. “It’s very difficult for things to go poorly when you’re aligned mentally and personally,” he said.
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When he arrived in MLS two seasons ago, he was a mega-star signing for Inter Miami, but for the most part, the talk around the league focused on Higuaín’s lack of fitness. His comments as a guest on Christian Vieri’s Twitch channel in July of 2021 made headlines around the world and confirmed what Higuaín initially thought of MLS.
“I thought I would come here and play with a cigarette in my mouth and, instead, it’s difficult,” Higuaín told Vieri. “It’s a tough league. I learned that it’s similar to Italian football. In Spain and England it’s easier to do well, while in Italy, if you do not know the league, you suffer.”
To start, Higuaín was an underachieving franchise player for Miami. During the pandemic-shortened MLS season of 2020, Higuaín played in nine matches for Miami, scored one goal and provided two assists over 801 minutes.
In 2021, Higuaín tallied 12 goals and nine assists in 28 regular season starts for an Inter Miami side that was reeling from the financial sanctions levied by MLS commissioner Don Garber after an investigation concluded that Miami had violated the league’s roster rules.
Higuaín was visibly frustrated by the play of his teammates and Miami failed to make the playoffs that season. During that time, his mother Nancy was in a five-year battle with cancer. In April of 2021, she passed away.
Two days before her death, Higuaín and his brother Federico, now an academy coach with Miami, made MLS history when they both scored in Inter Miami’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union.
Higuaín told ESPN in August that his mother’s passing had caused him to “hit rock bottom.”
“It was a very difficult season,” Higuaín said on Monday after referencing his mother’s death. “I went through that bad patch but then I ended the year scoring goals, but it wasn’t enough for us to qualify.”
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In 2022, a rejuvenated and physically fit Higuaín powered Inter Miami toward the playoffs, but only after he was benched by head coach Phil Neville for large stretches of the season. Miami signed Ecuadorian center forward Leonardo Campana on loan from Premier League side Wolverhampton and the 21-year-old made an immediate impact in front of goal.
Higuaín briefly played as a No. 10 in order to accommodate Campana, but ultimately, the young striker’s form forced Higuaín out of Neville’s starting XI, and in doing so, forced Higuaín to reflect on what his legacy would be in MLS.
“I believed in myself. It was going to be up to me,” said Higuaín. “I would have to train better, think better and prepare myself better for that moment when I’d be called upon again. I was on the bench for two and half months. That’s never happened to me before. I accepted it. I respected it and I worked in order to find out why I was sitting on the bench for two and half months. Thank God my work has paid off and it’s come at the most important time of the season.”
Higuaín has played in 26 of Miami’s 32 regular season games in 2022, starting 18. He eventually supplanted Campana in the starting XI when the Ecuadorian was out through injury. It set up what has become Higuaín’s grand finale. He has five goals in his last seven games.
In late July, he produced a hat trick against the New York Red Bulls in a 4-4 thriller, including a fantastic free kick that exemplified Higuaín’s elite shot-striking abilities. His late-game winners against D.C. United on September 18 and again versus Toronto last Friday, kept Inter Miami’s playoff hopes alive.
On Wednesday night, Higuaín scored a brace in a 4-1 win over Orlando City, clinching a spot in the postseason. The home crowd honored him throughout the night. He told reporters after the match that it had been one of the most beautiful night’s of his career.
“There have only been a few times that I’ve enjoyed football the way I am now,” Higuaín said on Monday. “I never would’ve thought that it would happen in this league. That’s how I wanted to retire.”
Gonzalo Higuaín, a true king. 👑
His fifth straight game with a goal makes it 2-0! #InterMiamiCF pic.twitter.com/6n8BvEDF3s
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 6, 2022
Neville detailed Higuaín’s resurgence on Monday and spoke candidly about the mutual respect they have for each other. The 45-year-old manager praised Higuaín’s “street football mentality” and said that when criticism was raining on him, Higuaín trained harder.
Throughout his highs and lows in MLS, Higuaín maintained celebrity-like status among Inter Miami’s young squad. His goals have won games for the club, but Higuaín’s pedigree and prior experience have also become increasingly valuable.
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“Then all of a sudden you think, well, we need to tap into that a little bit more and we did,” said Neville. “He’s helped us and we’ve helped him. He has shown character in the last two- and a half years because he’s been ridiculed, abused, criticized, adored. He’s been through it all.”
But a player of Higuaín’s level was expected to have a bigger impact on the league.
A late surge of goals and inspired play may not be enough for those who see him as another veteran player who came to America to retire. But after announcing his retirement, the adulation that he longed for on social media poured in immediately. Higuaín, who no longer has an online presence, may never see the tributes.
Fans from his former clubs thanked him. Jose Mourinho, his manager at Real Madrid, posted a photo of the two on Instagram and wrote, “Are you tired of (scoring) goals? Enjoy the rest of your life!” During his weekly news conference, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernández spoke about Higuaín’s impact on the game.
“Pipa Higuaín was exemplary,” Xavi said. “Always low key, always professional, always respected his opponents, even during a Barça-Real Madrid (match). He was always respectful. He’s had a great career. He’s a very important player.”
Gonzalo Higuaín, emblema de la Selección Argentina, anunció su retiro del fútbol.
¡Gracias por tanto, Pipa! ❤️🇦🇷
📝https://t.co/4YHHe7I6jD pic.twitter.com/4DGUZ6teQa
— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) October 3, 2022
And after years of scrutiny and abuse from fans in his homeland, Higuaín was described as “a symbol of the national team” by Argentina’s official Twitter account. But at this point, it may be of little importance to Higuaín. He’ll remain in Miami after his final professional season concludes. He doesn’t plan on returning to Argentina.
A new career in coaching isn’t a priority, either. He told reporters that spending time with family and away from the pressures of football is what he’s looking forward to the most.
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“In the short term, I haven’t considered staying involved with football,” he said. “I want to see what I can be, how I’ll react when I’m removed from football and what I find along the way that I can be passionate about. After I finish my time with Inter Miami, I want to see what it’ll be like to live without that thing that I’ve had my entire life, and that’s playing football.”
In spite of his struggles, Higuaín now ends his career by flashing his quality in a country whose football culture is developing, and thus, is more forgiving. As a result, he was able to find peace and become a voice for change.
(Photo: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports)
