# Federico Higuaín

Federico Fernando Higuaín (Spanish:; born 25 October 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward and attacking midfielder. He is currently the head coach for MLS Next Pro club Columbus Crew 2.
He played 157 games and scored 35 goals in the Argentine Primera División for River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Independiente, Godoy Cruz and Colón between 2003 and 2012. He also had brief spells in Turkey with Beşiktaş J.K. and Mexico with Club América in 2007–08.
In 2012, he signed for the Columbus Crew for a then club-record fee of US$650,000, and won the MLS Newcomer of the Year Award in his first season. An icon of the club, He made over 200 appearances and scored over 50 goals for the club across all competitions, helping them to the Eastern Conference title in 2015.

## Early life

Higuaín was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of the Argentine former footballer Jorge Higuaín. Higuaín has three brothers, including Gonzalo, who is a former footballer. He is of Basque descent through his father.

## Club career
### Early career

Higuaín signed with River Plate as a youngster, playing 5 games and registering no goals. He soon went on loan to Nueva Chicago in the Argentine second division, where he played 77 total games, scoring 29 goals. He also impressed during stints at Godoy Cruz and Colón de Santa Fe.
In August 2007, Higuaín signed a three-year contract at Beşiktaş J.K. of the Turkish Süper Lig, for a US$1.65 million fee. He did not settle in Istanbul, and the following February he was loaned to Mexico's Club América for the remainder of the year, where he scored one goal in the league, and one goal in the Copa Libertadores.

### Columbus Crew
#### 2012–2014

On July 27, 2012, Higuaín joined the Columbus Crew as the team's third-ever designated player, for a then club-record fee of $650,000 USD. His debut came on August 19 as a substitute against the Houston Dynamo, where he assisted Eddie Gaven's go-ahead goal with a well-placed ball over the top just 13 minutes later. Only three days later, he earned his first MLS start against Toronto FC and, in the fourth minute, once again set up a Gaven opener before notching the winning goal himself. The following match, which took place on August 26, saw him score two goals from free kicks in a thrilling 4–3 victory over the New England Revolution. For his performances over his first several matches, Higuaín was named player of the week for weeks 25 and 26 of the 2012 Major League Soccer season. The season came to an end with him netting both goals in a 2–1 victory against Toronto FC on the final matchday.
In the beginning of the 2013 season, Higuaín was named captain and scored in a 3–0 opening-day victory over Chivas USA on 2 March. On 10 August, he scored in a 2–0 victory over New York Red Bulls with a chip from well outside the penalty area that was voted Goal of the Week, and in the next match, a 2–0 win over Toronto FC, chipping the goalkeeper from 22 yards away.
To start off the 2014 season, Higuaín once again scored on the first game of the season, this time bagging two goals in a 3–0 win against D.C. United. He scored two goals and added one assist in the match at Portland on 17 May, converting a penalty kick goal and a chipped goal before adding an assist en route to MLS Player of the Week Honors for Week 11. Following the 2014 Major League Soccer season in which Higuaín tallied a team-leading eleven goals and seven assists, he was signed to a new contract, the most lucrative deal ever given by the Crew at the time. At the time of signing his new contract, Higuaín had been ranked fifth in the league in goals, first in penalty kick goals, and one of only eight players to score double-digit goals in the previous two seasons since entering the league.

#### 2015–2019

In 2015, Higuaín scored eight goals and provided nine assists during the MLS regular season, while in the playoffs, he won the Eastern Conference Championship with Columbus, only to lose the MLS Cup Final to Portland, following a 2–1 home defeat.
Higuaín scored a bicycle kick goal on matchday one in a 2–1 defeat at Portland. Higuaín missed six games in the middle of the season after undergoing hernia surgery, and finished the season scoring four goals and adding three assists in just 20 appearances, as the Crew missed out on the playoffs. While many pundits expected him to leave the next season, as his contract was expiring, he signed a one-year extension, and in 2017, he helped Crew to qualify for the playoffs and reach the Eastern Conference finals.
   “[Higuain is cerebral] in how he analyzes it on the field, and executes his role on the field. He understands multiple facets of the game extremely well, whether that’s the tempo of it, the rhythm of it, when to play the right passes, when not to play the right passes, when to slow it down, when to speed it up. It’s this all-encompassing idea that he is able to put out on the field game-in and game-out.”
He scored the game-winning goal during the first match of the 2018 season on the road against Toronto FC in his 150th league appearance for the club. Higuaín scored his second goal of the season and 50th with the club in the following match against the Montreal Impact. two matches later, he notched his 50th Crew assist to put him in the MLS 50/50 club.
On 25 May 2019, in a game against the Colorado Rapids, Higuaín was injured, and subsequently received anterior cruciate ligament surgery, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. On 21 October 2019, Columbus Crew announced that they decided not to extend his contract for the next season. With Columbus, Higuaín scored 59 goals in 210 appearances in all competitions, and left the club as the all time regular season assist leader with 63.

### D.C. United

On 2 March 2020, Higuaín joined D.C. United as a player and Player Development Coach. On 13 July 2020, he made his first appearance in an "MLS is Back" tournament match against Toronto FC. With D.C. United losing 2–0 and at a man disadvantage due to a first-half ejection, Higuaín came on as a substitute in the 80th minute and scored on a breakaway in the 84th minute. D.C. United added a second goal in injury time to force a 2–2 draw.

### Inter Miami CF

On 10 October 2020, D.C. United traded Higuaín to Inter Miami in exchange for $50,000 in General Allocation Money, where Higuaín joined his brother, Gonzalo Higuaín. Higuaín re-signed with Miami on 28 January 2021 for the 2021 season. Following the 2021 season, Higuaín announced his retirement from playing professional football.

## Style of play

Nicknamed Pipa, Higuaín is a diminutive playmaker with a slender physique. While not being a prolific goalscorer, his technique, vision, intelligence, creativity on the ball, ability to provide assists for his teammates, and eye for goal from midfield make him capable of playing both as a forward and as an attacking midfielder, and he has also often functioned as a second striker, or as a winger. Buenos Aires-based journalist Daniel Colasimone has stated that "[h]is role is more to harass opposition defenses with intelligent runs, fine ball control and incisive passing. His hard work on and off the ball, and affable personality made him well-liked wherever he played in Argentina." His coach at Columbus, Gregg Berhalter, said of him in 2015: "He’s the guy who ties everything together. He ties the defense to the offense on both sides of the ball. He's been fantastic this year, and his contribution is underrated in my eyes because he's been performing at a really, really high level."

## Coaching

Higuaín began his coaching career in 2020 when he signed with D.C. United as a player and player development coach. On 4 February 2022, he was named as part of the coaching staff for Inter Miami II ahead of the inaugural MLS Next Pro season. In January 2025, HiguaÍn accepted the head coach role with Columbus Crew 2.

## Personal life

Higuaín holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

## Career statistics

    As of 8 November 2020
| Club | Season | League | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| River Plate | 2003–04 | Primera División | 3 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| River Plate | 2004–05 | Primera División | 2 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| River Plate | 2005–06 | Primera División | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| River Plate | 2006–07 | Primera División | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| River Plate | Total | Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Nueva Chicago (loan) | 2005–06 | Primera B Nacional | 36 | 13 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | 40 | 15 |
| Nueva Chicago (loan) | 2006–07 | Primera División | 35 | 13 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 37 | 14 |
| Nueva Chicago (loan) | Total | Total | 71 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 77 | 29 |
| Beşiktaş | 2007–08 | Süper Lig | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 |
| América (loan) | 2008 | Primera División de México | 13 | 1 | – | – | 9 | 1 | – | – | 22 | 2 |
| Independiente | 2008–09 | Primera División | 18 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 1 |
| Godoy Cruz | 2009–10 | Primera División | 36 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 36 | 11 |
| Colón | 2010–11 | Primera División | 27 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 27 | 3 |
| Colón | 2011–12 | Primera División | 35 | 7 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 35 | 7 |
| Colón | Total | Total | 62 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 10 |
| Columbus Crew | 2012 | Major League Soccer | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 13 | 5 |
| Columbus Crew | 2013 | Major League Soccer | 29 | 11 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 31 | 11 |
| Columbus Crew | 2014 | Major League Soccer | 29 | 11 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 30 | 12 |
| Columbus Crew | 2015 | Major League Soccer | 32 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 1 | 37 | 9 |
| Columbus Crew | 2016 | Major League Soccer | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 20 | 4 |
| Columbus Crew | 2017 | Major League Soccer | 26 | 9 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 32 | 9 |
| Columbus Crew | 2018 | Major League Soccer | 30 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 2 | 33 | 8 |
| Columbus Crew | 2019 | Major League Soccer | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 1 |
| Columbus Crew | Total | Total | 193 | 55 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 210 | 59 |
| D.C. United | 2020 | Major League Soccer | 10 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 2 |
| Inter Miami | 2020 | Major League Soccer | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 421 | 106 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 20 | 7 | 462 | 116 |
* ↑ Appearances in the Turkish Cup and U.S. Open Cup
* 1 2 Appearances in the Copa Libertadores
* ↑ Appearances in the Primera B Nacional Promotion Playoff
* ↑ Appearances in the Primera División Relegation Playoff
* ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearance in the Copa Sudamericana
* 1 2 3 4 Appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs
* ↑ Includes three appearances and two goals in the MLS is Back Tournament

## Honours

River Plate
* Argentine Primera División: Clausura 2004
América
* InterLiga: 2008
Individual
* MLS 50/50 Club
* MLS Newcomer of the Year: 2012
* MLS Player of the Week 2012: Week 25, 26
* AT&T Goal of the Week 2013: Week 24
* MLS Player of the Week 2014: Week 11