Higuain healthy for postseason
Crew SC scored a seasonhigh five goals in Sunday’s regular-season finale against D.C. United, and not one of them came via a chip shot.
Attacking midfielder Federico Higuain, who is third among Crew players with eight goals this season and known to be nifty with the chip shot, was not on the field because of a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. But he was watching as his team put together its most-dominant
offensive performance of the season.
“The experience was very good because we play a style in which it doesn’t matter who the players are on the field,” Higuain said through a team translator. “The system and the playing style look good out there on the field. It was very gratifying for me to see the team win 5-0.”
The result often hasn’t been positive when the Argentine is out of the lineup. Higuain had a torn right calf muscle and missed the second leg of the Crew’s 2014 conference semifinal against the New England Revolution, a game the Crew needed to either win by three or win by two while scoring at least five goals to advance. Without the cog of its offensive attack, the Crew never got its scoring outburst, falling 3-1 to end its playoff run.
When asked about not being able to contribute as the Crew fell short of its postseason goals a year ago, Higuain pinned his team’s shortcomings on the game in which he did play, a 4-2 home loss to the Revolution a week earlier. He played through the calf injury and scored on a penalty kick in the 94th minute.
“The hard part was to play so poorly the first match against New England. At home we played really bad the first game,” Higuain said. “Now, we are in the playoffs again, we are ready, and we are very hopeful that we are going to do well.”
The 2014 conference semifinals likewise were unpleasant for the rest of the Crew, which was without three of its top six scorers for the game at New England.
“The whole playoff experience for us last year wasn’t a positive experience, and we want to turn that around,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We want to have a positive experience this time.”
Whether Higuain’s second shot at the Major League Soccer playoffs ends with a better result will be determined over the next few weeks, but the 31-year-old at least enters this postseason with a clean bill of health. Both he and forward Kei Kamara are set to return from their yellow-card suspensions on Sunday against the Montreal Impact, and they already have made up for lost time in two team workouts this week.
“I know they were itching to get back out there, and this week’s training has already been pretty solid for us,” midfielder Ethan Finlay said. “(Higuain and Kamara) are banging goals left and right.”
Higuain has received many accolades during his nearly four years in MLS. He was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year in 2012 and was voted the Crew’s MVP in 2013 and 2014. But a deep postseason run has eluded him. Higuain is optimistic that 2015 is about to change that.
“It’s not easy to repeat that (a 5-0 victory). This is a very even league and we definitely would like to keep doing that every game, but we’re just preparing for the next game and hoping to do our best,” Higuain said. “I’m just looking to work hard and be able to get those victories.”