Higuain retires from international football

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Chelsea Football Club Facebook

Gonzalo Higuain, Argentinean forward, officially announced the retirement from national team.

Striker on loan in Chelsea was born in France, but as a child he moved to Argentina with his parents. He couldn’t decide on a national team he would like to represent, so he refused call-ups from both countries. Finally he choose to wear ‘Albicelestes’ shirt. He debuted in 2009 against Peru. The match was crucial in advance to the World Cup in South Africa, but Higuain didn’t feel pressure and scored a goal.

The tournament was successful in forward’s point of view. Due to a hattrick against South Korea and a goal against Mexico in Round of 16, he became the fifth goalscorer of the cup (the previous four had 5 goals).

In the next World Cup he scored only once, but his goal against Belgium led to an advance to semifinals. However, he missed a big chance in the final against Germany and the opponents scored a crucial goal in the extra time. After the match he was criticized by the media and fans.

The last tournament, in 2018, was definitely the worst for Argentinean. He appeared only thrice on the pitch and watched his team from the bench being eliminated in Round of 16 by France. He didn’t score any goal in Russia.

The player, who started his career in River Plate, took part in three Copa America editions as well. He was a runner-up in 2015 and 2016, but he negatively contributed to the both defeats against Chile. First he missed a penalty in penalty-shootout, next year he missed another big chance.

In his international career he played 75 matches and scored 31 times. His last game was against Nigeria during 2018 World Cup.

[photo: Chelsea Football Club Facebook]

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