In the 27th minute tonight, Federico Higuain earned the secondary assist on Gyasi Zardes’ goal to give the Crew a 1-0 lead on the LA Galaxy. Not only that, he etched his place in the Crew record books, surpassing Crew legend Robert Warzcha for the Crew’s all-time assist lead. It was the 62nd helper of Higuain’s Crew career, which started in August of 2012.

The coach who brought Higuain into the club and penciled his name into the Crew’s lineup for the first time? Robert Waryzcha.

“If I would know it was going to take him seven years to beat my record, I would never sign him,” Warzycha wrote in a text message.

“That’s a joke,” he quickly texted as a follow-up, even though it was obviously classic Warzycha deadpan.

On a serious note, Warzycha was happy to see a player like Higuain be the one to break his record, which had stood since the Polish Rifle’s retirement following the 2002 season.

“He is not only a good goal scorer and assists leader, but also a very good person,” Warzycha texted. “I am very happy that we brought him to Columbus. The record shows how important a player he is for the team. And the best thing is that he is going to produce more.”

Mere minutes after that text, Higuain buried his first goal of the season to give the Crew a 2-0 lead, My phone buzzed with another text from Warzycha.

“That’s what I mean. (smile emoji.)”

***

For further reading on this topic:

The Night Pipa Tied Bobby

Dueling 61s: A Look at Warzycha and Higuain

*****

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