When we think of strikers, attacking forces who have experienced almost every aspect of the game in their careers, many names come to mind.
From Alessandro del Piero to Romario, Gerd Muller and Thierry Henry, football has given us scintillating eye-catching goal scorers, producing highlight after highlight, title after title.
Gonzalo "Pipa" Higuain, therefore, should be part of this list. From winning titles in Spain, England and Italy and appearances in three World Cups including a final, Higuain has played in some of the most memorable matches in recent history.
Now, at 32 years old, the French-Argentinian dual citizen is enjoying life in Miami after leaving Juventus, where he played for three seasons, helping the club win the Serie A title each time, lifting the Coppa Italia title twice and helped them reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2017.
But to Higuain, titles, trophies and records - as important as they are - are not what football is about. A kid at heart, "Pipa" tells me, in our exclusive chat for Que Golazo, that he wanted to fall in love with the game again and that's a major reason why he came to MLS.
"I've always been curious about this league, after watching it closely because of my brother and other big players," says Higuain. "But I wanted to come here with the intention of being happy to play again and I think Inter Miami gave me everything I needed. Coming here to this league, gives me that feeling again, back when I was a kid enjoying playing, where in Europe I think that left me for many different reasons."
"I think from a media perspective, Europe was just too much. I had to basically prove to them every day, game by game, what I have done all my career, and patience was cutting short. So they don't give you time to truly enjoy playing."
Being with his older brother, Federico Higuain, a well loved star in the league who recently joined Inter Miami from D.C. United, has also been a gift. They have spent too much time away from each other and the chance for them to enjoy their football, together, has been nothing but a blessing.
"There are many things I have never known about him due to being so far away from each other," says the younger Higuain. "So we basically lost 15 years together and now we're trying to get all that time back."
Higuain also discusses his incredible resume and most memorable moments from his career as well as what it feels like to play in the game of all games, El Clasico.
"It's beautiful. The world stops," says Higuain, who played for Real Madrid for seven years and won three league titles, a Copa del Rey and two Super Cups. The second one was a 2012 victory against Barcelona where he scored the opener. "And I played during the Messi/Ronaldo era and it was beautiful. Sadly, we did play the best Barcelona, but when Jose Mourinho arrived, thankfully things evened out a little bit. It was an electrifying game filled with so many stars. It was a privilege to play, share and experience those matches."
For more of our exclusive conversation, head over to our channel. A warning: This one is in Spanish ... but ... if you check our YouTube page below, you can watch it with subtitles.
Enjoy ... y que viva el fútbol!
