As with much of his career, Gerard Pique knew just when the time was right to bow out of the Spanish national team.
He’d already hinted some months back that the World Cup in Russia would be his last major tournament for La Roja, and the elegant Catalan has been true to his word.
By the time of the next European Championship he will be 33, and the body will be a little wearier, perhaps the reactions a little less sharp.
And what has he left to prove? Absolutely nothing. A hundred and two caps, a World Cup and European Championship winner and part of the most successful era in Spanish football. His work is done.
Luis Enrique will surely have asked a player with whom he worked at club level to reconsider, but with Pique’s decision made, he’s free to see out his playing days worrying only about Barcelona.
Coming up to the 10th anniversary of when he made his debut in the first team, Pique has also been named as one of the club’s four captains for the first time, a responsibility he will no doubt take seriously.
Perhaps now, as supporters mull on what he brought to the national team and which can’t be replaced, they’ll reflect on the vile abuse that the centre-back was often subjected to, purely because of his political beliefs.
How the straw that broke the camel’s back was when he cut the long sleeves off of his Spain top for their World Cup qualifier against Albania almost two years ago.
Accused again of being pro-Catalan, social media was awash with the ‘news’ that he’d only cut the sleeves so that he didn’t have to wear the red and yellow bands which that version of the shirt had.
- Caps: 103
- World Cup 2010
- Euro 2012
Gerard Pique has announced his retirement from international football...
L E G E N D
It was, like most other issues that got under the skin of many, utterly preposterous, but Pique was always able to rise above it.
Incredibly intelligent and with a head for business and making money, perhaps it was jealousy from the masses towards a man who truly does have it all
that fuelled their hatred.
Whatever the whys and wherefores, Spanish football will soon miss what Gerard Pique brought to the national side alongside Sergio Ramos.
On opposite teams in club football, they were inseparable for their country, and like so many things in life you don’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.
What a shame we’ll no longer enjoy Pique at international level, but how blessed we’ve been to marvel at his talent.
