It’s the end of a great career. Gerard Piqué, 35, legendary defender of Spain (102 caps) and especially of Barça, has decided to hang up his crampons. In a somewhat brutal way, in the middle of the season, of a match week even. In a video published over two minutes on social networks, the 2010 world champion announces that he will retire after a final match on Sunday in Almeria.
Since the start of this season, his playing time has been limited (5 La Liga games, 4 Champions League games) and his performances criticized.
If he played in Zaragoza and Manchester United at the start of his career, his legend was written in the jersey of Barcelona (615 games, 53 goals) where he had been playing since 2008 after being trained at La Masia. With Barça, he won four Champions Leagues, eight La Liga, seven King’s Cups, six Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three Club World Cups.
His relationship with the famous Colombian singer Shakira also made the front page of people’s newspapers. After 12 years together and two children, the couple announced their separation last June. Pique had also become a businessman through his company Kosmos. He notably bought and transformed the Davis Cup of Tennis.
“Football has given me everything. Barca gave me everything.”
« Culers, it’s Gerard. Many people have been talking about me for several months, weeks. So far, I haven’t said anything. But now I want to be the one talking about me. Like many of you, I have always supported Barça. When I was little, I didn’t want to be a footballer, I wanted to be a Barça player. I’ve been thinking a lot about this little boy lately. What this Gerard would have thought if he had been told that he would make all his dreams come true. That he would be in the Barça first team, that he would win all possible titles, that he would be European and world champion, that he would play alongside the best players in history, that he would be captain , that he would make friends forever. It’s been 25 years since I arrived at Barça. I left, I came back. Football gave me everything. Barça gave me everything. You Culers gave me everything,” he said, before announcing his retirement.
« Now that all those dreams have come true, I want to tell you that I’ve decided it’s time to come full circle. I always said that there would be no other teams after Barça. And it will be. Next Saturday will be my last game at Camp Nou. I will become one more Culer. I will support the team, I will transmit the love of Barça to my children as my family did with me. And you know me. Sooner or later I will be back. See you at Camp Nou. Visca Barca. Still. »
