Real Madrid: Was Gonzalo Higuain Denied a Chance at Greatness?

The days of Gonzalo Higuaín’s Real Madrid career are drawing to a close as announced by team general manager Jose Angel Sanchez (from L'Equipe via Sky Sports). 

Even after seven seasons, there’s still the lingering perception that the 25-year-old Argentine international, nicknamed Pipita, can reach another level. 

The same level the likes of Arjen Robben, Esteban Cambiasso, Ezequiel Garay, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Nicolas Anelka, Rafael van der Vaart, Walter Samuel, Wesley Sneijder, Zé Roberto, et al. attained after leaving the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. 

October 8, 2006 at Estadio Monumental. 

It’s the Superclásico—River Plate vs. Boca Juniors.

The two managers, River’s Daniel Passarella and Ricardo La Volpe of Boca, were teammates during Argentina’s triumphant 1978 FIFA World Cup campaign. 

The man in the middle, referee Horacio Elizondo, was three months removed from red-carding Zinedine Zidane during France’s World Cup final loss to Italy. 

La Volpe, who had managed the Mexican national team, was defeated by Raymond Domenech’s France in a friendly early in the year. 

Now, his Boca team were undone by a brace from French-born Higuaín, the 18-year-old son of former Boca and River player, Jorge. 

“Domenech wanted to call Gonzalo for France but he said no,” recounted Jorge in an interview with LigaBBVAworld.

Not only was Higuaín being pressured to turn his back on Argentina for France à la Nestor Combin and David Trezeguet, the Argentine press were criticising Higuaín for not representing La Albiceleste. 

“But at that time, he was not able to play for Argentina, he had French nationality,” explained Jorge, whose son later pledged his allegiance to Argentina. 

“We are interested,” said then-Paris Saint-Germain chairman Alain Cayzac (from L'Equipe via ESPN FC), who saw Higuaín as the successor to Portuguese forward, Pauleta.

To the disappointment of Cayzac, who later resigned, Higuaín opted for Real Madrid as a replacement for an out-of-shape Ronaldo, a victim of hypothyroidism, who was caught in a lame-duck situation under Fabio Capello, a notorious disciplinarian. 

Higuaín, a teenager, walked into a Real Madrid locker room well aware that he was competing with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who would win the Pichichi that season, and living legend Raúl for the No. 9 role. 

Higuaín’s equalising goal in the Madrid Derby and a late winner to thwart Walter Pandiani’s 33-minute hat trick for Espanyol were critical to Los Blancos securing the La Liga title. 

BBC Sport’s South American correspondent Tim Vickery accurately forecasted Higuaín’s future role for the national team: “Perhaps Gonzalo Higuaín of Real Madrid can develop into Crespo’s replacement up front.”

The next season for Bernd Schuster, Higuaín was mainly an impact sub, only playing 25 percent of total minutes, at one point scoring in four successive games off the bench.  

When he was finally given the starting gig during the 2008-09 season, he broke out with 22 league goals, even with Huntelaar, a €20 million January acquisition, waiting in the wings. 

But, it still didn’t shut up Higuaín’s critics, who pointed to the red and blue half of Madrid, where Atléti’s Diego Forlán took home the European Golden Shoe with 32 La Liga goals. 

The next season with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive footballer ever, and the club’s de-facto No. 9 (literally), Higuaín (27) outscored the Portuguese (26) in league play, despite Ronaldo taking 113 more shots. 

For the second straight season, Higuaín outlasted a potential successor, this time, Frenchman Karim Benzema, a €35 million signing from Lyon. 

In Higuaín’s third league game back after hernia surgery, he netted a hat trick in a 6-3 win over Valencia. 

He perfectly fits Iain Dowie’s favourite buzzword: ‘bouncebackability’.

Has Higuaín gone missing from time-to-time? Yes. 

Why is that the case?

Well, try and guess the percentage of Higuaín’s games that are sub-affected under José Mourinho, an ardent believer in rotating players not named Ronaldo.  

Not 50, 60, 70 or 75 but 78.7 percent—astonishing.  

Have you read Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez’s recent comments about Ronaldo? 

“We're going to do everything at our hand to make him happy,” said Pérez (via The Telegraph), who plans on making the Portuguese the highest paid player in the world. 

If Real can’t even keep Ronaldo happy, what makes you think Higuaín is satisfied with the way the club have handled his career? 

This isn’t just a consistent problem at Real because Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City have all flagrantly mismanaged world-class talents. 

If Higuaín wasn’t thrown so many obstacles, he would have scored as prolifically as Hugo Sánchez. 

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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, Fox Soccer and Squawka.com