Gerard Piqué: Difference between revisions
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==Style of play== |
==Style of play== |
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Gerard Piqué is strong in the air and in |
Gerard Piqué is a composed defender, strong in the air and outstanding in positioning himself to intercept balls. He also possesses good ball control and touch, as well as excellent passing range. |
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==Career statistics== |
==Career statistics== |
Revision as of 21:43, 21 March 2013
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gerard Piqué Bernabeu | ||
Date of birth | 2 February 1987 | ||
Place of birth | Barcelona, Spain | ||
Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Barcelona | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Youth career | |||
1997–2004 | Barcelona | ||
2004–2005 | Manchester United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2004–2008 | Manchester United | 12 | (0) |
2006–2007 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 22 | (2) |
2008– | Barcelona | 130 | (10) |
International career‡ | |||
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 | 49 | (4) |
2004– | Catalonia | 6 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 March 2013 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 February 2013 |
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu (Catalan: [ʒəˈɾar piˈke j βərnəˈβew], Spanish: [ʝeˈɾar piˈke i βernaˈβeu]; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a centre-back 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 Pep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first ever to complete a 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 and UEFA Euro 2012. Gerard is dating Colombian singer, Shakira and has one child named Milan Piqué.
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 playing as a striker 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, 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 attend 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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/Piqu%C3%A9.jpg/160px-Piqu%C3%A9.jpg)
On 27 May 2008, Piqué signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a €5 million buy-out clause.[10] Barcelona paid a £5 million fee for the player.[11] He expressed his joy at re-signing with his boyhood club, although he admitted he had enjoyed his spell at Manchester United:
"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."
Piqué's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5–2 Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008.[12][13] His first domestic goal for the club followed two months later, on 29 January 2009, in a 'Copa del Rey match against local rivals 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.[14][15]
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.[16] Three days later, Barcelona clinched the league title after Real Madrid lost 3–2 to Villarreal, with two games left in the season.[17]
He played against his former club Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League Final on 27 May, which Barcelona won 2–0,[18] completing an historic treble.[19] On 26 February 2010, Piqué signed a contract extension to keep him at Barcelona until at least summer 2015.[20][21] On 28 April 2010, Piqué scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, though his side went out 3–2 on aggregate.[22]
On 2 April 2011, Piqué scored the only goal in an away 1-0 win La Liga match against Villarreal.[23]
International career
Underage teams
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Gerard_Piqu%C3%A9_en_La_Moncloa.jpg/160px-Gerard_Piqu%C3%A9_en_La_Moncloa.jpg)
Piqué was a member of the Spain under-19 side that won the 2006 U-19 European Championship in Poland.[24] In a 2–1 final win against Scotland, Piqué put in a strong performance in defence, hitting the crossbar with a header, and also providing his team's second goal for striker Alberto Bueno.[25]
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.[26] However, Piqué missed the deciding penalty against the Czech Republic and Spain were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.[27]
Senior side
On 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the senior squad for the friendly against England on 11 February.[28] He played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville.[29] In his second match as international on 28 March 2009, he was called-up as a replacement for injured teammate Carles Puyol and he scored the only goal in Spain's victory in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Turkey at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid.[30] Four days later, he also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage.[31]
Piqué 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.[32] 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.[33]
He scored the first penalty kick of his career in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi-final shoot-out against Portugal, which Spain won 4–2 after a 0–0 draw after extra time.
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1[34] | 28 March 2009 | Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain | ![]() |
1 – 0 | 1–0 | 2010 World Cup Qualifier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2[35] | 12 August 2009 | Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia | ![]() |
2 – 2 | 2–3 | Friendly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3[36] | 5 September 2009 | Estadio Riazor, A Coruña, Spain | ![]() |
3 – 0 | 5–0 | 2010 World Cup Qualifier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4[37] | 14 October 2009 | Bilino Polje, Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina | ![]() |
0 – 1 | 2–5 | 2010 World Cup Qualifier
Template:Ig footer
Style of playGerard Piqué is a composed defender, strong in the air and outstanding in positioning himself to intercept balls. He also possesses good ball control and touch, as well as excellent passing range. Career statisticsClub
International
Personal lifePiqué was raised in a Catalan family. His father, Joan, is a business man, and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a prestigious spinal injuries hospital. He has a younger brother named Marc.[42][43] His grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, is a former vice-president of FC Barcelona.[44] Since Spring 2010,[45][46] Piqué has been in a relationship with Colombian singer Shakira, who is exactly ten years older than him. They met when Piqué was featured in the music video for Shakira's song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[47] After months of media speculation, Shakira officially confirmed the relationship between her and Piqué in March 2011 via Twitter and Facebook by posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine" in Spanish.[48] In September 2012, Shakira announced that she and Piqué were expecting their first child.[49] Their son, Milan Piqué i Mebarak, was born on 22 January 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.[50] He uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with his fans and friends.[51][52] He is very good friends with fellow club colleague Carles Puyol and former teammates Rio Ferdinand and Bojan Krkić. Piqué has known his best friend Cesc Fàbregas since childhood.[53] Piqué was chosen to be the face of Mango men's line HE for four consecutive campaign seasons, autumn-winter 2012/13.[54][55][56] HonoursClub
![]() International
Individual
DecorationsReferences
External links![]() Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerard Piqué.
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- Use dmy dates from December 2012
- 1987 births
- Living people
- People from Barcelona
- Spanish footballers
- Catalan footballers
- Association football defenders
- Premier League players
- Manchester United F.C. players
- La Liga footballers
- Real Zaragoza footballers
- FC Barcelona footballers
- Spain youth international footballers
- Spain under-21 international footballers
- Spain international footballers
- 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2010 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 2012 players
- FIFA World Cup-winning players
- UEFA European Football Championship-winning players
- Spanish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in England