Higuain excited for Argentina future

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain is happy to be back in the Argentina squad ahead of the start of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Argentina host Chile on Friday in the first match of their South American qualifying journey, with former River Plate star Higuain arriving in Buenos Aires on Monday after bagging a hat-trick for his club at the weekend.

Higuain missed a large part of last season because of a back injury, including several national team fixtures, and said he was excited to be back in the squad as they look to book their spot at the 2014 World Cup in neighbouring Brazil.

“I hope that this start of the cycle (of qualifying) begins really well,” Higuain said.

“In my case, different from before, I now have the opportunity to play from the beginning and hopefully I can take advantage of the opportunity.”

The 23-year-old, who has nine goals in 18 games for Argentina, looks set to start the match as Sergio Aguero is absent with an injury and Carlos Tevez did not make the squad.

Higuain went on to express his confidence ahead of the match against their neighbours.

“We have what it takes to beat Chile,” he added.

Meanwhile, Higuain’s team-mate Javier Pastore said the team must leave their past disappointments behind them as they prepare for their new campaign.

Pastore, who made a big-money move to Paris Saint-Germain over the off-season, said he still feels the sting caused by the lack of success of the national team after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup and 2011 Copa America.

“The failures must be left behind,” Pastore said. “We’ve had failure after failure.”

With a new coach leading the country and with an abundance of talent in the squad, the former Huracan man has hopeful.

“We have a number of important players and we have to start off winning to earn an advantage in the first encounters (of qualifying),” Pastore said.

“The upcoming games are very tough and complicated.”

The game will take place in Buenos Aires on Friday, before Argentina travel to Puerto la Cruz to face Venezuela on Tuesday.