Gonzalo Higuain voted MLS Player of the Week after hat trick, will start vs. San Jose

Gonzalo Higuain’s first-half hat trick against FC Cincinnati earned him a standing ovation at DRV PNK Stadium and Major League Soccer Player of the Week honors.

But equally significant – and more important as the team continues its push for the playoffs – was what happened after each of the Argentine’s three goals.

He smiled. And he was swarmed with hugs from teammates.

Neither of those had happened much this season as the 34-year-old forward and highest paid player on the team was dropped from the starting lineup in favor of 21-year-old Ecuadorean Leo Campana, who leads Miami with eight goals.

Higuain was visibly frustrated with his backup role at first. He pouted, sat on the ball during warmups before one game, and had scored just two goals through the first 18 games. He went scoreless from April 2 to July 13 but has gotten hot with five goals in the past four games to bring his season total to seven.

Three of his goals have been from the run of play, three came on penalty kicks and one off a free kick, including a spectacular banger that nailed the upper right corner against Cincinnati and went viral on social media.

Coach Phil Neville announced that Higuain will start in the Wednesday night road game against San Jose Earthquakes (10:30 p.m., My33).

Higuain was laughing and joking with teammates at training Monday morning before the team boarded its flight.

Asked if Higuain is the fittest that he has been the past two seasons, Neville said: “He is the happiest. What we’ve seen is he got injured, he saw the team doing well, came back and was frustrated with not getting back in and then there was almost a pride thing where he thought, `For the last three, four, five months of the season I’m going to really enjoy.’ You’re seeing a player enjoying it more than I’ve seen since I came to the club.”

The addition of 2020 MLS MVP Alejandro Pozuelo last month seems to have inspired Higuain to pick up his game. They are the only two Designated Players on the team. Higuain’s $5 million salary is third highest in the league and Pozuelo’s $4.9 million is fourth highest. The two have linked up on the field and have spoken of mutual admiration for each other.

“(Higuain) has invested in the group, and the group’s invested back in him…It’s a two-way thing, relationships,” Neville said. “He is working so hard, doing the extras. I always think in life if you work your absolute hardest, you’ll get your rewards. Gonzalo is getting his rewards. The first goal (against Cincinnati) was world-class. He’s not scoring tap-ins. He’s scoring match-winning goals. When you think about the success of the team, the DP wins you game. He’s playing like a DP.”

Neville said he feels Higuain is “the most in-form goal scorer in the league” right now.

“He looks like he’ll score with most chances that he’s going to get,” Neville said. “Add that with Leo (Campana) and Pozuelo and Robert Taylor, we want to be a goal threat in the next two games.”

Neville on England women’s Euro title

Neville and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham watched the women’s Euro title match together on Sunday, and Neville said they both “jumped up and celebrated and felt immense pride” as England defeated Germany for its first European championship.

Neville coached the England women before taking the Inter Miami job.

“Emotionally I was really, really involved in the game,” Neville said. “I still feel as it these are my girls. They were a massive part of my life for three and a half years. I invested so much into it. What they gave back to me was immeasurable…they inspired me and made me a better manager.

“I think back to Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning goal, I remember when we gave her a debut against Austria and she was literally a little baby at the time, she was shaking going on the field and then she scores the goal in the Euros final. It was quite an emotional moment.”

Neville spoke of the growth of women’s soccer in Europe and how the U.S. team needs to step it up to stay on top.

“You look at the occasion, 87,000 people at Wembley Stadium and 20 million back home in England watching, that’s changed women’s sport, never mind women’s soccer,” Neville said.

“America was always the standard bearer. I feel as if the rest of the world caught up and maybe America’s a little bit complacent now and maybe this will give them a `We need to kick in again.’ I always eventually felt the rest of the world would kick up to the incredible coaching and development opportunities for females in sport in America. When I got the (England women’s) job, I was thinking, `We need to be like America, on and off the pitch.’ I think the rest of the world is catching up very quickly and in some aspects, taken over.”

The three largest soccer crowds in Europe this year have been for women’s games, and some high-profile English women’s league matches will be held at Old Trafford, Anfield, Emirates Stadium and Goodison Park next season.

“For those that are still in denial, this ain’t going away,” Neville said. “These girls are here for good. You’ve got a lot of people still very skeptical but after what people are seeing now, people are jumping on board and accepting, and these girls are breaking down barriers. There are still massive barriers to be broken down in all aspects of life for females, but when you have a soccer team doing so well, that reverberates and ripples around the world. It doesn’t just mean it will create change in soccer. It’s going to create change in all aspects for life, which can only be a good thing.”