René Higuita

René Higuita
Personal information
Full name José René Higuita Zapata
Date of birth (1966-08-27) 27 August 1966
Place of birth Medellín, Colombia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Atlético Nacional (goalkeeper coach)
Youth career
Millonarios
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985 Millonarios 16 (7)
1986–1992 Atlético Nacional 112 (1)
1992 Real Valladolid 15 (2)
1993–1997 Atlético Nacional 69 (1)
1997–1998 Veracruz 30 (2)
1999–2000 Independiente Medellín 20 (11)
2000–2001 Real Cartagena 21 (0)
2001–2002 Atlético Junior 4 (0)
2002–2003 Deportivo Pereira 13 (0)
2004 Aucas 35 (3)
2005 Bajo Cauca 13 (1)
2007 Guaros 10 (5)
2008 Deportivo Rionegro 10 (3)
2008–2010 Deportivo Pereira 12 (5)
Total 380 (48)
National team
1987–1999 Colombia[1] 68 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

José René Higuita Zapata (Spanish pronunciation: [reˈne iˈɣita]; born 27 August 1966 in Medellín) is a retired Colombian football goalkeeper. He was nicknamed El Loco ("The Madman") for his high-risk 'sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dramatic.

Higuita's style of play, which was first shown to a global audience during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, was pioneering in influencing goalkeepers to take more responsibility for situations further from the goal.[2] IFFHS ranked Higuita the 8th best keeper in South American history. His most notable moment being the scorpion kick save.

Career

Rene Higuita played the majority of his club career with Colombian side Atlético Nacional where he helped the team win the Colombian League on numerous occasions as well as the Copa Libertadores and Copa Interamericana, both in 1989.

He came out of retirement in 2007 to sign for Venezuelan club Guaros de Lara FC.[3] In January 2008, aged 41, he signed for Colombian second division team Deportivo Rionegro. In June 2008 he signed for Colombian first division team Deportivo Pereira and retired in January 2010.[4][5]

Playing style

On the pitch, Higuita was known for his eccentric playing style, taking unnecessary risks and actively coming out of his area to anticipate opponents, play the ball out to defenders, undertake individual dribbling runs, and attempt to score goals. Higuita became known for scoring directly from free-kicks, as well as penalties. Higuita also invented the scorpion kick, a clearance where the keeper jumps forward, positions his legs over his head and in doing so, kicks the ball away with his heels.

International career

Higuita would often take set-pieces for the Colombian national team, in all, he scored 7 goals in his 68 international appearances. Higuita's scorpion kick trick earned him considerable media attention when he successfully used it in a friendly game against England at Wembley Stadium on 6 September 1995, clearing a cross by Jamie Redknapp,[6] although the linesman had already flagged for offside.[7] It ranked 94th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments in 2002.[8]

Higuita's unorthodox playing style caused a mistake by him that knocked Colombia out of the 1990 World Cup, when he seemingly dithered with the ball at his feet near the halfway line enabling Cameroon striker Roger Milla to dispossess him and score, putting Cameroon through to the quarter-finals. Higuita described it as "a mistake as big as a house".[9] As a result of such behaviour, Higuita was nicknamed El Loco ("The Madman").[10]

Higuita is friends with Diego Maradona and played in the Argentine's farewell match in 2001.

International goals

Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.[11]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 May 1988 Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland  Finland
2–1
3–1
 Friendly
2. 3 February 1989 Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia  Peru
1–0
1–0
 Copa Centenario de Armenia
3. 3 July 1989 Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil  Venezuela
1–0
4–2
 1989 Copa América

Coaching career

He has expressed the wish to coach the Colombian national team and in December 2008 he got the job of goalkeeper coach for his former club Real Valladolid.[12]

He joined Al Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia on 12 January 2012, to become the club goalkeeper coach.

Personal life

He is married to Magnolia, with whom he has three children, Andrés, Pamela and Wilfred. He also has a daughter, Cindy Carolina, from a previous marriage.

Higuita was imprisoned in 1993 after getting involved in a kidnapping. Acting as a go-between for the drug barons Pablo Escobar and Carlos Molina, he was largely responsible for securing the release of Molina's daughter by delivering the ransom money. He received $64,000 for his services, which breaks Colombian law as it is an offence to profit from a kidnapping. He was incarcerated for seven months before being released without charge. Commenting on the case, he has stated that "I'm a footballer, I didn't know anything about kidnapping laws."[13]

Because of the term in prison Higuita was not fit for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In another scandal, he tested positive for cocaine on 23 November 2004 while playing for Aucas, an Ecuadorian football club.[14]

In 2005, Higuita participated in the reality TV program La isla de los famosos: Una aventura pirata ("The Island of the Famous: A Pirate Adventure"), a show similar to Survivor. Also in 2005, he underwent plastic surgery to completely change his appearance.[15]

Higuita has expressed the wish to become more politically active.[16]

Honours

Club

International

1990 FIFA World Cup: Round of 16. Copa America 1993: Third place. Copa America 1995: Third Place.

Individual

See also

References

  1. ↑ "RSSSF".
  2. ↑ Tim Vickery (10 February 2010). "The Legacy of Rene Higuita". BBC. Retrieved 11 June 2014
  3. ↑ Higuita returns to football
  4. ↑ "Tormann René Higuita geht nicht mehr auf Torjagd". Kleinezeitung.at. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  5. ↑ Tim Vickery. "The legacy of Rene Higuita". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  6. ↑ On Sky Sports 1's Goals on Sunday, 29 October 2006 at 1246 GMT, Jamie Redknapp stated that it was a cross not a shot.
  7. ↑ http://www.espnfc.com/story/989764/the-mavericks-rene-higuita
  8. ↑ 100 Greatest sporting moments – results Channel 4. Retrieved 28 August 2014
  9. ↑ Shaw, Phil (16 February 1998). "Schmeichel slices into fixture". The Independent.
  10. ↑ "Colombia 'scorpion kick' keeper Higuita runs for mayor". BBC News. 19 March 2011.
  11. ↑ Ballesteros, Frank (12 February 2006). "José René Higuita - International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "René Higuita, nuevo preparador de porteros en". Elvalladolid.com. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  13. ↑ René 'el Loco' Higuita leads Ecuador's keepers – FIFA.com 22 September 2004 Archived 15 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ Vickery, Tim (2004-11-29). "Two of the best". BBC News. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  15. ↑ (in Spanish) Inconforme René Higuita por cambio físico a que fue sometido (El Universal)
  16. ↑ "Higuita wants to return to Colombia's national team". Colombia Reports. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  17. ↑ "South American Team of the Year". RSSSF. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "Legends". Golden Foot. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
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