I had a grandstand view of it. Sitting high in the stands in the Maracana stadium at the last World Cup Final. Lionel Messi opened up the German defence with a pass out right to Ezequiel Lavezzi, whose low ball behind the line was turned in left-footed by Gonzalo Higuain.
Right in front of us, Higuain wheeled away to roar his triumph. He thought he had put Argentina ahead. But from where I was sitting he looked offside – and, yes, the flag was up. With his back turned to the pitch, Higuain was the only one who had not seen it. For a few seconds he was lost in his own private celebration. And the intensity of the moment was not just about having opened the scoring in a World Cup Final. It was also a piece of personal redemption.
A few minutes earlier Higuain had latched on to a disastrous back header from Tony Kroos. He was one-on-one with the goalkeeper – and he shot wide. His celebration was two parts triumph, one part relief. Until it was cut short by the deflating realisation that the goal would not stand. And the problems of Gonzalo Higuain were only starting.
Twelve months later Argentina had another crack at a title – they have won nothing at senior level since the Copa America of 1993, and the burden of waiting is growing heavy. They made it through to another final, this time against hosts Chile in the 2015 Copa. Argentina were the favourites. They had shown all of their firepower with a 6-1 win over Paraguay in the semi-final.
This time Higuain was on the bench. He was Sergio Aguero’s reserve, but he had scored a couple of goals in the tournament, and looked to be a very useful substitute to introduce if the team were searching for a goal.
He came on for the last 20 minutes of normal time in a disappointingly tight match. Instead of their usual swashbuckling style, Chile had given priority to closing down Messi. But right at the end of extra time, he got away. Once more it was the Messi-Lavezzi connection.
This time the low cross came from the left. Higuain, perhaps carrying a little too much weight, arrived a fraction too late, and instead of tapping in to an open goal, he could only steer his shot just the wrong side of the post. And so it went to penalties. And after three successes, Higuain blasted his shot well over the bar, and Chile were on their way to the first ever title.
A year later, the two sides met again, with another Copa title at stake. In 2016 a special version was held in the United States to celebrate the centenary of the tournament. Once more, the final was between Argentina and Chile. Once more, it was tight – but Higuain had an early opportunity to change the whole complexion of the game.
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This time he was first choice. Trimmer and sleeker, he was looking sharp, and had scored four times in the tournament. He robbed opposing centre-back Gary Medel, and bore down on Claudio Bravo in the Chile goal – hardly a giant, Manuel Neuer figure capable of blocking all the angles. It was a huge chance for redemption. But were all those past misses in previous finals weighing on his mind at the vital moment? Higuain went for a little dink – and the ball rolled agonisingly wide of the far post.
An early goal would have opened out the game. Instead, a mixture of nerves and dreadful refereeing meant that the showpiece final degenerated into a scrappy goalless draw. At least this time Higuain was not around for the penalty shoot-out. He gave way to Aguero in the second half. This time it was Messi who blasted over the bar as Argentina fell at the last hurdle once again. But this match – like the previous two finals – will forever be associated with the wastefulness in front of goal of Higuain.
This is surely exaggerated. Higuain has 32 goals in 69 games for Argentina. Only five players have scored more. Carlos Tevez, so loved by the local media, has a dismal record of 13 in 76 games. But in the culture of South American football, losing finals carries a heavy weight. The humiliation of coming so close can even be worse in the eyes of public opinion than falling in the group stages. And so if Argentina have a burden, then Higuain’s is even bigger.
But he may well have one final crack at redemption with Argentina. His last match for his country was a 1-0 win over Chile in World Cup qualification a year ago. Since coach Jorge Sampaoli took over, he has been in the cold – but Higuain has been recalled for this month’s friendlies against Spain and Italy. And he has also given a very public reminder of his abilities in the Champions League.
Juventus were chasing the ball for most of both legs against Tottenham. But, scoring three goals and providing a memorable assist for the other, Higuain was the decisive force in his team’s 4-3 aggregate win. Juventus march on to the last eight. After losing two finals in the last three years, Higuain will be hoping that his club can go that vital little bit further in the Champions League – and that his national team can do the same in Russia.
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