Playing position Years Team Height 1.76 m | Weight 78 kg Name Rene Higuita Spouse Magnolia Higuita | |
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Full name Jose Rene Higuita Zapata Date of birth (1966-08-27) 27 August 1966 (age 50) Children Cindy Carolina, Pamela Higuita, Wilfred Higuita, Andres Higuita Parents Mary Dioselina Higuita, Jorge Zapata Similar People Carlos Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla, Andres Escobar, Jose Luis Chilavert, Jorge Campos Profiles | ||
Rene Higuita ● El Loco ● Best Moments Ever
José René Higuita Zapata ([reˈne iˈɣita]; born 27 August 1966 in Medellín) is a retired Colombian football goalkeeper. He was nicknamed El Loco ("The Madman") for his high-risk 'sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dramatic.
Contents
- Rene Higuita El Loco Best Moments Ever
- 94 jos ren higuita zapata scorpion kick
- Career
- Playing style
- International career
- International goals
- Coaching career
- Personal life
- Club
- International
- Individual
- References
Higuita's style of play, which was first shown to a global audience during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, was pioneering in influencing goalkeepers to take more responsibility for situations further from the goal. IFFHS ranked Higuita the 8th best keeper in South American history.
94 jos ren higuita zapata scorpion kick
Career
Rene Higuita played the majority of his club career with Colombian side Atlético Nacional where he helped the team win the Colombian League on numerous occasions as well as the Copa Libertadores and Copa Interamericana, both in 1989.
He came out of retirement in 2007 to sign for Venezuelan club Guaros de Lara FC. In January 2008, aged 41, he signed for Colombian second division team Deportivo Rionegro. In June 2008 he signed for Colombian first division team Deportivo Pereira and retired in January 2010.
Playing style
On the pitch, Higuita was known for his eccentric playing style, taking unnecessary risks and actively trying to score goals. Higuita became known for scoring directly from free-kicks, as well as penalties. Higuita also invented the scorpion kick, a clearance where the keeper jumps forward, positions his legs over his head and in doing so, kicks the ball away with his heels.
International career
Higuita would often take set-pieces for the Colombian national team, in all, he scored 7 goals in his 68 international appearances. Higuita's scorpion kick trick earned him considerable media attention when he successfully used it in a friendly game against England at Wembley Stadium on 6 September 1995, clearing a cross by Jamie Redknapp, although the linesman had already flagged for offside. It ranked 94th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in 2002.
Higuita's unorthodox playing style caused a mistake by him that knocked Colombia out of the 1990 World Cup, when he seemingly dithered with the ball at his feet near the halfway line enabling Cameroon striker Roger Milla to dispossess him and score, putting Cameroon through to the quarter-finals. Higuita described it as "a mistake as big as a house". As a result of such behaviour, Higuita was nicknamed El Loco ("The Madman").
Higuita is friends with Diego Maradona and played in the Argentine's farewell match in 2001.
International goals
Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.
Coaching career
He has expressed the wish to coach the Colombian national team and in December 2008 he got the job of goalkeeper coach for his former club Real Valladolid.
He joined Al Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia on 12 January 2012, to become the club goalkeeper coach.
Personal life
He is married to Magnolia, with whom he has three children, Andrés, Pamela and Wilfred. He also has a daughter, Cindy Carolina, from a previous marriage.
Higuita was imprisoned in 1993 after getting involved in a kidnapping. Acting as a go-between for the drug barons Pablo Escobar and Carlos Molina, he was largely responsible for securing the release of Molina's daughter by delivering the ransom money. He received $64,000 for his services, which breaks Colombian law as it is an offence to profit from a kidnapping. He was incarcerated for seven months before being released without charge. Commenting on the case, he has stated that "I'm a footballer, I didn't know anything about kidnapping laws."
Because of the term in prison Higuita was not fit for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In another scandal, he tested positive for cocaine on 23 November 2004 while playing for Aucas, an Ecuadorian football club.
In 2005, Higuita participated in the reality TV program La isla de los famosos: Una aventura pirata ("The Island of the Famous: A Pirate Adventure"), a show similar to Survivor. Also in 2005, he underwent plastic surgery to completely change his appearance.
Higuita has expressed the wish to become more politically active.
Club
International
1990 FIFA World Cup: Round of 16. Copa America 1993: Third place. Copa America 1995: Third Place.