It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no, no, no,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate son, no, no, no,
When John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival penned “Fortunate Son” in the late ’60s, it is reasonable to assume he was not thinking of Argentinian footballers. Most people interpret it as a passionate cry of defiance against the nepotistic, warmongering American ruling class. In fact, when asked what the song was about by Rolling Stone magazine, Fogerty replied, “"Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1969, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and like eighty percent of them were in favour of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble."
Such insights would seem to indicate that the song has very little to do with footballing families from The Argentine. That being said, we still think the its rousing chorus is the perfect refrain to have playing on repeat in your subconscious (or in another browser window) as you soak up our list of Argentinian footballers who got left behind by their more fortunate (read: talented) siblings.
1. Rolando Zárate
The Zárate clan are Argentina’s answer to the Baldwin brothers. Well, not really, but if they were, ‘Roly’ would most certainly be Daniel Baldwin; the doughy faced one who is good at playing particular roles, but nowhere near as famous or flashy as some of his bros. Sergio Zárate (Alec) is the trailblazing older brother, who carved out a successful career in Germany and Italy before a couple of long spells in Mexico. Ariel (Stephen) has been on the periphery for most of his career, and is currently enjoying his very first season in the Primera Division with newly-promoted All Boys, while pretty boy Mauro (William), who plays for Lazio in Italy, has the potential to be the most outstanding of the lot, if he can one day learn how to pass the ball to his teammates. Roly has always been a popular character, however, especially at Velez; the club from which all the brothers emerged, and the team with where he has spent the longest periods of his career. Currently at Huracan, he’s one of those target-men who don’t seem to be adept at anything in particular, but has a good enough footballing brain to be in the right place at the right time, making himself a nuisance to opposition defences. Cult favourite.
2. Federico Higuaín
Federico was always going to have a lot to live up to on the football field; his father was Jorge "El Pipa*" Higuaín, a rugged, but intelligent central defender who played for a number of clubs in Argentina in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, including Boca, River and San Lorenzo, winning over fans wherever he went with his tough and determined attitude. If that wasn’t pressure enough, Fede’s younger brother Gonzalo, whom Daniel Passarella described as “destined for superstardom,” got swooped up by none other than Real Madrid at the age of 19, and is now first choice number nine for the national team. Both Higuain kids had came through the ranks at River Plate, and were groomed as strikers when they showed technical abilities that far outstripped that of their father’s. For whatever reason, Federico, three years older and 13cm shorter than his brother, didn’t quite make it as a River player, and was loaned out to Nueva Chicago; while Gonzalo had a couple of dazzling seasons in the first team and moved straight on to the Madrid powerhouse. Federico has played at several clubs since, including Independiente, Godoy Cruz and a short stint at Besiktas. He is now plying his trade for Colón de Santa Fe and is number 37 in the pecking order of strikers for La Seleccion. Not a bad career at all, but when the whole family gets together over the holidays, you have to wonder whether he ever feels like reaching across the table and just smacking his little brother right in the chops. That’s what we would do if we were Federico Higuain.
* Jorge earned the nickname “El Pipa”, or “The Pipe”, due to his preposterously long nose. In the Argentinian tradition, the name was handed down to both sons, who are affectionately called “Pipita”.
3. Nicolas Cambiasso
When, at the age of 17, goalkeeper Nicolas Cambiasso was plucked from the Argentinos Juniors youth team by Real Madrid and taken to the Spanish capital, along with his 15-year-old brother Esteban, rumour has it that Real had little interest in the older sibling’s skills between the posts; rather they wanted to make sure that the talented young “Cucho” would feel comfortable settling in at Madrid. While both started out with Real Madrid B, Esteban was invited by Fabio Capello to train with the first team squad, and Nicolas found himself falling down the pecking order of goalkeepers in the reserves. Both would return to Argentina, but from then on it was Esteban’s career would soar to giddy heights (Independiente, River Plate, Real Madrid, Inter Milan), while his brother’s would stutter along like a duck with a broken wing, failing to ever really get off the ground (El Porvenir, Defensores de Belgrano, Olimpo, All Boys). There was a touching moment last May, however, when on the same weekend that Cucho Cambiasso won the Champion’s League with Inter Milan to complete a triplet of trophies, Nicolas was in goal as the club he had supported as a child, All Boys, won a playoff against Rosario Central to gain promotion to Argentina’s Primera Division for the first time in 30 years. Still, guess which match the parents went to watch? I’m sure they love both boys equally, though.
4. Esteban Solari
Here is another example of a decent footballer who has carved out a solid career, but just didn’t quite shine as brightly as his brother, Santiago, who played for River Plate, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and San Lorenzo. Esteban, three years younger, has been more of a journeyman, spending time in Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain and Mexico.
Yeah.
To be honest, he’s only on this list so we can mention the Solari sister, Liz, who in many ways shines even brighter than Santiago. Here are pictures of the three of them:
THE QUINTESSENTIAL: HUGO MARADONA
Young Hugo’s career got off to a good start when he represented Argentina at U16 level at the World Championship in China in 1985. A year later he would make his debut in the Primera Division, representing Argentinos Juniors. From there he earned a transfer to Italian club Napoli, but was immediately loaned out to Ascoli (this video shows the high regard the Italians held for for him). Playing as a number 10, Hugo didn’t enjoy much success in Europe as he moved around from Spain to Austria and then on to clubs in Colombia and Uruguay. He eventually did find his bona fide footballing home; Japan, where he spent eight years, fashioning himself as a Mr. Fix-it by helping clubs to gain promotion to the top division. Hugo now runs a bakery in South Florida. Most yanks have no idea who he is, of course, but whenever an Argentinian comes in, it doesn’t take them long to make the family connection, what with the photos on the wall, and physical resemblance. “Che,” they say, “you wouldn’t happen to be Lalo’s brother, would you?” Boom boom.
by Dan Colasimone
