SSUUPPEERRSSTTAARRSS OOFF SSOOCCCCEERR GGoonnzzaalloo HHiigguuaaíínn Personal File Name: Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín Nicknames: Pipita, Pipa-gol Birthplace: Brest, Francia Nationality: French and Argentine Sign: Sagitario TToo tthhee TToopp!! Height: 6 feet (1.84 m) Twitter: @G_Higuain 2012 Records a goal and an assist in Argentina’s 4-0 Position: Forward World Cup qualifying win over Ecuador. Number at Real Madrid: 20 Record: One goal every 60 minutes 2011 On January 11, undergoes surgery for a herniated 2011-12 season disc. In October, scores two hat tricks for Real Best Performance: 103 goals in 220 matches Madrid—one against RCD Espanyol, another playing for Real Madrid versus Real Betis. 2009 On October 10, scores first goal for the Argentine national team. 2008 Scores four goals against Málaga on November 8. 2007 Scores first goal in the Spanish League on February 24. 2006 On October 8, scores two goals against Boca Juniors. On December 14, Real Madrid purchases Gonzalo’s contract. 2005 Makes professional debut with River Plate. 1987 Gonzalo Higuaín is born on December 10. © 2013 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-4222-2649-0 (hc) — 978-1-4222-9190-0 (ebook) Printing (last digit) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in the United States of America. CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #S2013. For further information, contact Mason Crest at 1-866-MCP-Book. ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Elizabeth Levy Sad is an editor and journalist. She has published articles in Página/12 and the magazines Veintitrés, Toward Freedom, Tourist Travel, In-Lan, Men’s Life Today and Cuadernos para el Diálogo, among others. She works as an editor for iVillage (NBC), and contributes to the magazine Más Salud. Esteban Eliaszevich is an editor and journalist. Specializing in tourism, he has traveled to more than forty countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. He was the editor of the tourism section for the newspaper Country Herald. He contributes to the magazines Galerías and Go Travel & Living. Photo credits: EFE / Archivo / Cézaro De Luca: 12, 15; River Plate: 11; Shutterstock.com: 1, 2, 4, 7, 16, 18, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. Real Madrid: A Striker’s Breakthrough 5 CHAPTER 2. Sports in Their Blood 9 CHAPTER 3. The First Club 15 CHAPTER 4. The Argentine National Team 21 CHAPTER 5. A Limitless Future 27 GLOSSARY 28 FURTHER READING 30 INTERNET RESOURCES 31 INDEX 32 Chapter Gonzalo “Pipita” Higuaín in action with 1 Real Madrid during a Spanish League match against Espanyol in 2009. In that season, Pipita scored the most goals of any Real Madrid player, second only in the league to fellow Argentine Lionel Messi. RReeaall MMaaddrriidd AA SSttrriikkeerr’’ss BBrreeaakktthhrroouugghh ON JANUARY 11, 2011, NERVOUS REAL MADRID FANS waited up all night, concerned for the health of player number 20, Gonzalo Higuaín. Meanwhile, in Chicago, he was undergoing an operation for a herniated disc. After recovering Pipita made history: he established himself among the twenty highest-scoring players in the team’s history. Gonzalo Pipita Higuaín refers to Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial himself as “a positive player who is Hospital, the doctors who operated on always moving forward.” Those words Higuaín expected that it would be six that showcase a blazing spirit and reveal months before he would set foot on the a brilliant personality help explain why, soccer field, even though the operation after spending time in a hospital over- had gone smoothly. coming a difficult surgery, Higuaín Fortunately for Real Madrid, that came back to the soccer field much never happened. His recovery was much sooner than anyone had expected. No quicker. The great willpower that char- one saw his fast recovery coming— acterizes Gonzalo, which can easily be except for Gonzalo. seen in every match he plays, allowed After going through a complicated for a miraculous recovery. He returned surgery for a herniated spinal disc in to the soccer field in only three months. 5 6 Gonzalo Higuaín goal doubled that figure. Fast Fact By then, big teams in Europe had begun to notice his talent and they paid attention. Jorge Valdano, general manager and a In just 25 games played in three leagues (Spanish, Champions, and chairman for Real Madrid at the time, had Copa del Rey) during half of the praise for Higuaín. When he spoke with the 2011-2012 season, Pipita scored player, Valdano asked him to be patient, sixteen goals. explaining that his time would come. Valdano was right: in the 2008-2009 sea- After enduring intense physical therapy son, Pipita played 44 matches and scored sessions, underwater recovery training, and 24 goals. strengthening exercises, he returned to the Gonzalo had his magic moment on field on April 2, 2011, for a match against November 8, 2008, playing against Málaga Sporting Gijón. That day his team fell short in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Four of his by a single goal, but he was received by a goals enabled Real Madrid to come from warm, standing ovation from the crowd, behind and beat their opponents four to even before he had entered the stadium to three. In his entire career, Pipita has scored begin his warm-up exercises. Pipita came nine goals against Málaga. into the match ten minutes after the start The following season, 2009-2010, made of the second half, as Santiago Bernabeu him famous: he played 40 matches and Stadium unforgettably chanted his name scored 29 goals. from all four sides of the field. He had won Throughout this process of personal and their hearts with his goals. Now, his fans professional transformation, the Argentine paid Pipita back with their priceless recog- would become a key player for Real nition of his strength and effort. Madrid. His former teammate, the fierce Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy, said to Winning Advice him one day: “Goals are like a bottle of Gonzalo Higuaín set sail with Real Madrid in 2006, but his beginnings with Los Blancos (or “The Whites,” as the club is Fast Fact popularly known), were rocky. He had come to play for a prestigious team swarm- With Real Madrid, Gonzalo Higuaín ing with superstars; there were very few won two Spanish League champi- opportunities to prove himself on the field. onships (2007 and 2008), one In spite of the tough situation, he came to Spanish Supercup (2008), and one Copa del Rey (2011). make eleven goals in two seasons, even though the number of failed attempts at Real Madrid: A Striker’s Breakthrough 7 ketchup: sometimes they don't come no Higuaín started to pay back with interest matter how much you push, but later they all of the love he had received from Real all come out in one hit.” Madrid fans during his recovery period. He His friend’s joking comment did influ- scored his first goal after his return on ence Pipita, focusing him in such a way April 23, 2011, in Mestalla Stadium against that from that point on, like magic, a highly talented Valencia squad. In that Gonzalo Higuaín started to write history as game, he scored three goals in 55 minutes. a striker. What’s more, he made two assists; magical passes that helped Real Madrid prevail as The King of the Hat Trick the visiting team by a final score of 6 to 3. Soon after returning from surgery, Gonzalo It was one of the most memorable games of Pipita playing for Real Madrid during a Spanish League match against Royal Sporting Club of La Coruña. 8 Gonzalo Higuaín his professional career. aged one goal per game in less than fifty After playing in 25 matches during the minutes, making him the most efficient for- 2010-2011 season, Higuaín racked up thir- ward in all of Europe, and number twenty teen goals in three different leagues—the on the list of highest goal scorers in the Spanish League, Champions League and team’s history. Copa del Rey. The next season, 2011-2012, For good reason Spanish sports he didn’t appear in the sports headlines as reporters have named him the “Offensive frequently, but he did score two more hat Cannibal.” tricks. The first of them, against RCD Without a doubt, Gonzalo Higuaín Espanyol, happened on October 2. A few pleases the soccer world, with the high cal- days later, on October 15, he secured iber of his game, his humility, and his another three-goal game against Real Betis. sportsmanship—he truly is a good sport The spellbinding striker, number 20 for and a great athlete. Real Madrid in the Spanish League, aver- Pipita acted in Torrente 4, part of a saga of comedies from Spanish director Santiago Segura. The film follows the bizarre adventures of a corrupt, violent, and totalitarian policeman, who is also a fan of the team Atlético de Madrid. Higuaín shares the screen with players Sergio “Kun” Agüero (Diego Maradona’s son-in-law), Sergio Ramos, Cesc Fabregas, Álvaro Arbeloa, and Raúl Albiol, in a scene where they play a soccer game in a jail. Singer David Bisbal also participated in the film. Director Segura comments, “I like putting huge sport stars on the screen. People love it.” The movie was a box-office hit in Spain and other countries.