Higuain in tears after retiring on 'baseball park' as Benzema wins Ballon d'Or

As Gonzalo Higuain's former team-mate Karim Benzema picked up the 2022 Ballon d'Or, Higuain was in tears at a baseball stadium.

The Argentine drew the curtain on his career on Monday evening as Inter Miami were dumped out of the playoffs by New York City. Higuain sobbed inside Citi Field as he left the pitch one final time.

In his post-match press conference, Higuain said: "I felt like what I had loved the most as a job had ended. It was half my life, my career, 17-and-a-half years. Images from my entire career came to my mind.

What I lived, what I worked, what I experienced and I'm leaving very happy because I gave it all until today. That's the most important thing. The dream is over and another life begins."

Higuain decided to call time on his career earlier this month when he announced he would retire at the end of the mLS season. However, Inter Miami had qualified for the MLS Playoff's and the legendary striker looked to add one more accolade to his trophy cabinet before he walked away.

But he hapless to stop New York City - who ran riot at Citi Field to easily brush aside Inter. And as it became clear it would be his last game, Higuain broke down in tears.

Benzema and Higuain played together at Real Madrid: The pair arrived at Real Madrid around a similar time, with Higuain joining from River Plate in 2007 and Benzema as a 'Galactico' a couple of seasons later after Florentino Perez's returned as president.

The duo battled it out for a starting spot alongside Cristiano Ronaldo with the preferred striker flipping between the two.

Higuain left Madrid in 2013 - and when he left he had netted three more for Los Blancos than Benzema. However, the Frenchman has gone from strength to strength in recent years en route to winning football's most prestigious individual prize.

"This prize in front of me makes me really proud," said Benzema. "When I was small, it was a childhood dream, I never gave up. Anything is possible. I'm really proud of my journey here. It wasn't easy, it was a difficult time for my family as well."