Football in Colombia is a massive phenomenon and fans of the sport worship their footballers like Gods. Over its sporting history, there have been several iconic footballers. However, the name René Higuita is often considered immortal. He is furthermore regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers who have ever graced the sport.
Higuita’s nickname was “El Loco”, which means, The Madman. The reason fans gave him this name was due to his highly risky yet entertaining style of play. His footballing style was unique, and it eventually served as an inspiration for younger footballers. Along with being a brilliant goalkeeper, he often even scored goals. A goalscoring goalkeeper is extremely rare in football, and his ability to do so was considered unique.
René Higuita’s entire story will be showcased in the upcoming Netflix documentary titled, Higuita: The Way of the Scorpion. The streaming platform will release it on November 2, 2023.
René Higuita’s early life
René Higuita was born on August, 27, 1966, in Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. His parents were Jorge Zapata and Maria Dioselina Higuita. Jorge unfortunately abandoned his family when René was a young boy. Therefore, it was his mother who raised him. While things were going well for a while, tragedy again struck the family when Maria passed away.
After René’s mother died, he was raised by his grandmother. The young boy kicked off his footballing career in the club Millonarios, however, bigger things awaited him.
René Higuita club and international career
In the year 1986, at the age of 20, he moved to the club Atlético Nacional. Here, he went on to grab success by the throat. He spent six years here (1986 to 1992) and helped the team to win the Colombian League twice. The team also won the coveted Copa Libertadores and Copa Interamericana, both, in the year 1989.
After spending so many years in his native country, Higuita decided to challenge himself by moving to a club in Europe. He went to the Spanish club Real Valladolid, however, he came back to Atlético Nacional after a year. After dedicating five years of his life to the Colombian club again, he joined the Mexican club, Veracruz.
He soon returned to his native country again and joined the arch-rivals of Atlético Nacional, Independiente Medellín. In the year 2005, he failed a drug test while playing for the club S.D. Aucas. This led to his temporary retirement. However, he made his comeback in the year 2007 and played for clubs like Guaros FC., Deportivo Rionegro, Deportivo Pereira, etc. He finally retired in 2010, at the age of 44.
Higuita’s international career was also noteworthy as he played for Colombia 68 times, from the year 1987 to 1999. His first major tournament was the 1989 Copa América. Unfortunately, his team was eliminated early in the contest. In the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Colombia managed to reach the round of 16 and the goalkeeper had a huge part to play in the team’s success.
With him in goal, his team came fourth in the 1991 Copa América. However, the national team called him for the very last time in 1999 for the Copa América. Even as playing as a goalkeeper, he scored for this country three times throughout his career.
Higuita even tried his hand at coaching by becoming the goalkeeping coach for clubs like Real Valladolid, Al Nassr FC, and Atletico Nacional.
