 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu | ||
| Date of birth | 2 February 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Barcelona, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Barcelona | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2004 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2008 | Manchester United | 12 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 22 | (2) |
| 2008– | Barcelona | 99 | (7) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2003 | Spain U16 | 7 | (2) |
| 2004 | Spain U17 | 8 | (3) |
| 2006 | Spain U19 | 8 | (3) |
| 2007 | Spain U20 | 5 | (1) |
| 2006–2008 | Spain U21 | 12 | (1) |
| 2009– | Spain | 37 | (4) |
| 2004– | Catalonia | 5 | (0) |
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒəˈɾar piˈke]; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish footballer, currently playing as a central defender for FC Barcelona.
A product of Barça's cantera, he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first football club ever to complete The Sextuple. Piqué is one of four players to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.[2]
Piqué has also represented the Spanish national team, making his debut on 11 February 2009. He played an integral role in the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Early career
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia,[1] Piqué started his career in FC Barcelona's youth teams as a defensive midfielder, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join Manchester United. The Premier League side did not pay a fee for Piqué as he was too young to have a professional contract.Manchester United
Piqué made his debut for Manchester United in October 2004, as a late replacement for John O'Shea in a 3–0 League Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra as a centre back.[3] He made his full debut on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United, in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, playing at right back, as Gary Neville was unavailable through injury.[4]His performances, most notably in the reserve team, earned him a new contract, which he signed in February 2005 to run until the summer of 2009. On 4 August 2006, however, La Liga side Real Zaragoza secured Piqué on a season-long loan. The conditions of the loan involved Piqué having to feature in at least 20 games for the Aragonese outfit,[5] which he did, as he made 22 first team appearances in a successful spell, alongside Argentine Gabriel Milito (who would sign with Barça for 2007–08), either as a stopper or a holding midfielder.
On 5 May 2007, it was announced that Piqué would be staying at Old Trafford for the following season. Sir Alex Ferguson had intended to assess Piqué's form at La Romareda on 6 May, prior to a meeting where the two parties would discuss Piqué's future prospects with the club. However, Ferguson was unable to appear on account of airline difficulties.[6]
Piqué's return to Old Trafford saw him make nine league appearances during the 2007–08 season. He scored on his first start in the Champions League, a 4–0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007, as Piqué scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in that match.[7] In doing so, he became the 450th player to score at least one goal for the club.[8] His second goal for the club also came in the Champions League, in an away match to Roma on 12 December 2007.[9]
Return to Barcelona
Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008. His first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a Copa del Rey match against local rivals RCD Espanyol. The goal, which came from a corner kick in the 57th minute, turned out to be the game winner in a 3–2 victory for Barcelona.[12]"I am very happy to be back, I didn't think I would be here again but this is very good for me. Manchester United is a great club and I enjoyed winning things. To play with world class players has helped me and now I want to continue this at Barça."
On 13 May 2009, he picked up the first trophy of his Barcelona career as he helped his club to a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched the league title after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Villarreal CF, with two games left in the season.
He played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0, hence completing a historic treble. On 26 February 2010, Pique signed a contract extension that will keep him at FC Barcelona until at least the summer of 2015.[13] On 28 April 2010, Piqué scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3–2 on aggregate.[14]
On 2 April 2011, Piqué scored the winning goal in an away La Liga match against Villarreal CF, which saw Barcelona win 1–0, and hence continue on top of the table for the 17th consecutive week, with an 8-point difference than second-place, longtime rivals, Real Madrid.
Result1 – 02 – 3
International career
Subsequently, he played in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting all six of Spain's matches and scoring a goal in the team's come-from-behind 4–2 victory over Brazil in the round of 16.[17] However, Piqué missed the deciding penalty against the Czech Republic and Spain were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.[18]
On 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the senior squad for the friendly against England on 11 February.[19] He played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville.[20]
On 28 March 2009, he was called-up as a replacement for injured teammate Carles Puyol, and ended up scoring the only goal in Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Turkey in Madrid, in what was only his second appearance.[21] Four days later, he also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage.[22] Pique was Spain's first-choice centre back playing along side Barcelona teammate Carles Puyol at the World Cup finals in South Africa, starting all seven matches as Spain won the tournament, defeating the Netherlands 1–0 in the final. In Spain's 1–0 group stage defeat to Switzerland, just before Gelson Fernandes scored the only goal of the game, Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok tumbled over Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas and accidentally kicked Piqué in the face, knocking him over and leaving him with a nasty cut beside his right eye.[23]
Personal life
Piqué was raised in a Catalan family. His father, Joan, is a lawyer, and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a prestigious spinal injuries hospital. He has a younger brother named Marc.[33][34] His grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, is the former vice-president of FC Barcelona.[35]He is very good friends with fellow club colleague Carles Puyol and former teammates Rio Ferdinand and Bojan Krkić. Piqué has known his friend Cesc Fàbregas since childhood.[36]
Piqué is currently dating Shakira, whom he met in the spring of 2010 .[37][38] Piqué was also featured in the music video for Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), to celebrate South Africa hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010.[citation needed] Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." in Spanish.[39]
He uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with his fans and friends.
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