Gerard Piqué Action Photo Gallery Against Portugal
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Piqué and the second or maternal family name is Bernabeu.
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 Pep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first 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.
International career
Gerard Piqué in the Palacio de la Moncloa.
Piqué was a member of the Spain under-19 side that won the 2006 U-19 European Championship in Poland.[15] 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.[16]
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]
Club statistics
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu
