Federico Higuaín

Early life

Higuaín was born in Buenos Aires, the son of the Argentine former footballer Jorge Higuaín. Higuaín has three brothers, Nicolas, Lautaro and Gonzalo Higuaín who plays for the Italian Serie A club, Juventus.

Club career

Higuaín signed with River Plate as a youngster playing 5 games and registering no goals. He soon went on loan to Nueva Chicago in the second division, where he played 77 league games, scoring 29 goals. He also impressed during stints at Godoy Cruz and Colón de Santa Fe.

His role is more to harass opposition defenses with intelligent runs, fine ball control and incisive passing. His hard work on and off the ball, and affable personality made him well liked wherever he played in Argentina.

Columbus Crew

Higuaín signed for Columbus Crew as the team's third ever designated player on 27 July 2012. The reported transfer fee for the deal was $650,000 USD which, if correct, is believed to be the highest transfer fee ever paid by the Crew. He made his Crew debut on 19 August 2012 as a substitute against the Houston Dynamo and assisted on the go-ahead goal by Eddie Gaven with a ball over the top just 13 minutes after entering the game. After Dynamo equalized, Higuaín almost put the Crew back into the lead with a direct free kick that went just wide of the goal in the 84th minute. For the Crew's next match on 22 August 2012 Higuaín got his first MLS start against Toronto FC. In the 4th minute, Higuaín once again set up an Eddie Gaven goal to take a 1-0 lead. In the 58th minute of the same match, Higuaín scored his first MLS goal, the game-winner, off of an assist by Jairo Arrieta meaning that Higuaín tallied a goal and two assists through his first two matches with the club. On the Crew's next matchday, Higuaín scored two goals from free kicks in an eventual 4-3 victory over the New England Revolution. For his performances over his first several matches, Higuaín was named the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for week 25, then again for week 26, of the 2012 Major League Soccer season by North American soccer journalists. Higuaín finished the season by scoring both goals of a 2-1 victory against Toronto FC on the final matchday. To begin the 2013 season, Higuaín scored the game-winning goal in the 51st minute of a 3–0 opening-day victory over Chivas USA. On 10 August 2013, Higuaín scored in a 2–0 victory over New York Red Bulls with a chip from well outside the penalty area that was voted Goal of the Week, and in the next match, a 2–0 win over Toronto FC, he chipped the goalkeeper from 22 yards (20 m).

Following the 2014 Major League Soccer season in which Higuaín tallied a team-leading eleven goals and seven assists, he was signed to a new contract, the most lucrative deal ever given by the Crew. It was reportedly a two-year contract although terms of the deal were officially undisclosed. At the time of signing his new contract, Higuaín had been ranked fifth in the league in goals, first in penalty kick goals, and one of only eight players to score double-digit goals in the previous two seasons since entering the league.

Personal

Higuaín holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Club

Individual

Career statistics