Juventus to play MLS all-stars; Higuain vs. Higuain?
Major League Soccer announced on Thursday that Italian Serie A club Juventus will be the MLS all-star team’s opponent in the Aug. 1 All-Star Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The matchup is a potentially intriguing one for Crew SC’s Federico Higuain. The 33-year-old midfielder’s younger brother, Gonzalo, is one of the most recognizable soccer players in the world and has scored 39 goals with Juventus over the last two Serie A seasons.
“I think it’s good for the league to play against a strong team as the league has been doing in the past couple years,” Higuain said of D.C. United at Crew SC When: 6 p.m. Saturday TV: Ch. 53, Spectrum Sports Radio: WWCD-FM (102.5)
Juventus when asked about the All-Star Game on Thursday. “I don’t think too much on that game. I think of playing the next game with my club in the best way possible.”
He had to think for a moment, however, about the last time he played against Gonzalo.
“Long time ago,” Higuain said.
The Higuains haven’t played in the same league since 2006, when Gonzalo played for River Plate and Federico played on loan with Neuva Chicago, which now plays in Argetina’s second division, Primera B Nacional. Gonzalo was transferred to Real Madrid that December, while Federico headed to Besiktas in Turkey, Independiente in Mexico on loan, followed by Godoy Cruz and Colon in Argentina before coming to Crew SC in summer 2012.
Federico Higuain said the last time he saw his brother play in person was at the 2016 Copa America Centenario final at MetLife Stadium in north New Jersey, in which Chile defeated Argentina on penalty kicks. He tries to watch Gonzalo’s Juventus games and follow his progress “when I can.”
“I am a father. I have three children and don’t have too much time, so I’m not a guy who is reading news all the time,” Higuain said. “Sometimes, big games, I like to watch him.”
Gonzalo is one of several Juventus players featured in the Netflix show “First Team: Juventus” and Federico is mentioned at one point in the series.
“I heard,” said Higuain, who added that he hasn’t watched the series. “People told me about it. Maybe one day (I’ll watch).”
A matchup of Higuains would require at least a couple of fortuitous breaks. First, it’s not certain that Gonzalo will make the trip with the World Cup wrapping up a little more than two weeks earlier. Second, it would require an allstar team selection for Higuain, who has never been named to the team over an impressive 5½-year run in MLS.
Higuain has two goals in the Crew’s first three games to start the 2018 season.
“I hope Federico actually gets some votes this year because he has deserved to be an all-star for five years already,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “He hasn’t been yet, so I’d like to see him in the All-Star Game playing against his brother.”
Berhalter finished second in ESPN’s annual anonymous poll of MLS players in the category “Which coach would you most like to play for?” with 12 percent of the vote. New York City FC’s Patrick Vieira was first with 23 percent.
“I think it’s more for the organization,” Berhalter said of the vote. “It’s what we do and how we play … the guys deserve all the credit for that because without the players, it would be very difficult to implement what we’re doing.”
Forward Gyasi Zardes was fourth in the most overrated players category, midfielder Wil Trapp was fourth among most underrated players and defender Harrison Afful was fifth among toughest individual opponents.