He broke out hearts by scoring a goal that dimmed our hopes of qualifying to the final of the Coppa Italia and then he angrily pointed toward the crowd. It would be a few moments before we realized he was specifically pointing to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis as if to say “blame him”. It was at first a surprising gesture but after giving it much thought it’s not too difficult to understand what happened.

Gonzalo Higuain has never hidden his reason for moving Juventus, the commonly quoted “to win” motivation. This is further emphasized by reports suggesting that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had even offered more money to Higuain than he is currently earning at Juventus. So really the core reason that Gonzalo left Napoli was because he felt that he couldn’t win there. President De Laurentiis could not satisfy Gonzalo’s demands for the type of start-studded lineup that he felt could compete on equal terms. This is also supported by the fact that De Laurentiis confessed that Gonzalo’s brother and agent, Nicola Higuain, had expressed to him Gonzalo’s displeasure at having to play with certain teammates. At the end of the day, despite finishing in second place, despite the beauty of football put on display by the side, despite the fact that the players surrounding him had allowed him to break the 65 year old single season scoring record, despite the consistent growth Napoli has shown throughout the years, winning in Naples was simply too difficult for Gonzalo to be convinced to stay. His desire to win brought him up North to Turin and to the side known for winning no matter what the cost; to our bitter rivals in black and white.

And yet, Higuain’s response to the whistles and jeers he received from the Napoli faithful as he trotted the grounds that were once his own, displays one simple fact about Higuain: despite his time in Naples, the love, the support and the moments of shared joy with its people, he’s never understood what made us, as Napoli supporters, tick. His shock at his reception and need to point his finger of blame toward Aurelio De Laurentiis demonstrates that in his mind, he always thought it was about winning. That may be the case for him, but his mistake was in thinking it was the case for us. If we wanted to win, it would have been easy to bandwagon a team that does so consistently. We’d have never chosen this side or decided to stick with it through tough times including those of relegation and third division football as so many of us have. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to win. I dream about it, I get emotional at the simple thought of it; but it’s not a prerequisite to standing by my side. This is my team—these are my people. I can run into another Napoli fan anywhere in the world and know that in a sort of religious ritual, when either of us gives the old “Forza Napoli!” the other will certainly respond “Sempre!” I know that our love for the team means that even in the third division, we were still able to draw 60,000 for a match, and that in Madrid, waves on Napoli supporters decorated the Bernabeu with accents of blue. We don’t support Napoli for the joy of winning, we support Napoli for the joy of living; for the emotions we feel along the way. The hope, the joy, and yes, maybe even the disappointment at times. We embrace our team as we embrace life; taking all that comes with it. Our captain, Marek Hamsik, has understood that and will always be adored for it, even beyond the day he hangs up his boots to retire. So Gonzalo— enjoy your victory with Juventus, but know that should we blessed with a big victory of our own, you’ll never be able to share that satisfaction with us; and should we continue to fall short, then still, you’ll never be able to again take part in the Neapolitan joy that exists al di là del risultato!