Lionel Messi has heaped praise on Gonzalo Higuain as he spoke of the striker’s ‘spectacular career’ ahead of his retirement.
Messi is nearing the end of his international career and is expected to retire from Argentina duty following the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which begins next month. The 35-year-old was long-term teammates on the national team with Higuain, who is set to retire from football at the end of the MLS season.
Higuain joined Inter Miami - the club owned by David Beckham - in September 2020 but struggled to get to grips in the United States. Following a slow start, the Argentine excelled in the 2022 campaign.
He scored 16 goals as Inter Miami unexpectedly clinched a place in the MLS Playoffs, facing New York City FC in the first round on Monday night. Higuain announced his intention to retire once his club season came to an end.
During his international career, Higuain scored 31 goals in 75 appearances for Argentina and helped them reach the 2014 World Cup final and the Copa America finals in both 2015 and 2016. Rather unfairly though, he is arguably more remembered for his misses in big games - which Messi disagreed with.
“He was mistreated by a sector of journalism; people consumed that, and he took it to the pitch,” Messi told DirectTV Sports. “Higuain’s situation was terrible because he had a spectacular career.
“What he did was very difficult because he played in the best teams in the world, always performing, scoring goals, becoming champion and that’s where he was marked by the Copa América, by the World Cup.”
Along with his time in the MLS, Higuain played for Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus across his successful career while he also enjoyed loans at AC Milan and Chelsea. The 34-year-old scored 335 goals and registered 113 assists in 710 appearances so far.
Higuain won three La Liga titles while at Real Madrid, while he also lifted the Serie A title with Juventus three times. On an individual basis, he finished as the Serie A top scorer in 2015-16.
