Gerard Pique Retires from International Football

Spanish football star Gerard Pique has officially announced his retirement from international football. The 31-year old made the announcement ahead of his club’s match against Sevilla in the Supercopa de España. The Spaniard has informed new Spanish manager Luis Enrique of his decision and the latter accepted.

“I spoke to Luis Enrique and told him my decision was made and pondered upon. It was a lovely time with the national team, but now I want to focus on Barcelona.”

The Spanish veteran has amassed a total of 103 caps for the national team. During his tenure, he was part of the 2010 World Cup winning squad and the 2012 European Champions squad.

There were rumours that he was forced to retire due to his views on the Catalan Referendum. However, the player and the Spanish federation denied the claims. Interestingly, Pique had recently committed to FC Barcelona until the year 2022.

On the subject of Barcelona, the La Liga giants will go up against Sevilla on Sunday evening. Recently, the side named their four captains for the season, they are Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto.

Coming back to Pique, the Spaniard has enjoyed an illustrious career with Las Rojas. He made his international debut in 2009 in a friendly against England. The Spanish side won the match 2-0. Later, in the World Cup qualifier match against Turkey in 2009, he scored the only goal. He had been called up as a replacement for the injured Carles Puyol.

In the 2010 World Cup, Pique was in the squad for all 7 matches as the team romped to victory. He used to link up almost perfectly with teammate Carles Puyol and managed to keep 4 consecutive clean sheets between them.

He even played in the Euro 2012 and was instrumental in the penalty shootout against Portugal in the semifinal. Finally, when Spain went up against Iran in 2018, he made his 100th appearance for the side.