SAF: "I’m delighted with him (Heinze)," the United manager was still purring two days later. "He’s brought us some steel."
Wes Brown: "He really gets stuck in. He’s been fabulous."
And this from The Sunday Times:
Heinze is never going to make apologies for representing Argentina. He is a heart-on-his-sleeve type of patriot, and besides, the Copa marked his breakthrough as a genuine first choice for his country. The Olympics confirmed that in six months he had acquired a position of leadership in an Argentina team wary of false dawns but with grounds for optimism ahead of the 2006 World Cup. Heinze wanted to make an impression on his public, too, because until June he was a remote figure to the man on the terrace in Buenos Aires, a stranger with the middle-European surname — his father’s antecedents are German — to whom some struggled to put a face. Here’s the history: Heinze barely played at senior club level in South America before moving to Europe as a teenager, partly because he was so prodigious. He had been so good, so quickly in the Argentinian First D ivision that he had an offer from Europe before he had played a dozen games.
That was seven years ago and the buyers were Valladolid, from a provincial, conservative Spanish city. In time, Heinze would become the principal reason why low-budget Valladolid acquired a defensive reputation that grander clubs envied, but first he had to develop. He went on loan at Sporting Lisbon for a year, returned to La Liga until 2001, and then moved to Paris.
"It has been a step-by-step career, steady really," he says of the journey, "and I think I benefited from each stage." He sensed he needed to leave PSG at least 12 months ago. He knew of United’s interest — the then PSG coach, Luis Fernandez, and Ferguson talk often — as well as Barcelona’s. Had the Paris club not been in negotiations to sell Ronaldinho, Heinze might have gone 15 months ago. PSG needed to keep one of their high-class professionals. Ronaldinho flirted with United, and went to Barcelona. Heinze stayed.
Though there would then be tensions with PSG’s next coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, because of Heinze’s itchy feet, he had his best season. PSG finished second in the League and his international career took off. "It was a good season professionally," he says.
Argentinians now know the face, with its big, striking features, and they appreciate he has lived through a momentous year, not simply because he joined Manchester United and delivered his country’s first Olympic gold medal in nearly half a century, but because he responded emotionally to the triumph in Athens. The team leaders, Heinze among them, decided a portion of their bonuses should go to good causes; Heinze then made his own dedication with his medal.
It was for his father, he said, a posthumous gift. Jorge Heinze died earlier this year, a matter of hours after watching his son play for his country. Ask Gaby Heinze about role models and he’ll give an eclectic list, and Jorge will head it: "I grew up liking Maradona, obviously, because I was like any Argentinian boy, but also defenders like Daniel Passarella (captain of the 1978 World Cup winners, later the national coach), or Nestor Sensini (a famously durable marker). But mainly, my idol was my dad, who gave me all the support when I first moved away."
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