Spanish defender Gerard Pique has announced that he will not be returning to the national team despite his former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique being appointed as coach.
The outspoken Barcelona-born defender has never enjoyed the same rapport with Spain supporters as his international team mates, and he has often been booed at games due to his repeated jibes at Real Madrid and his support for a referendum on Catalan independence. Pique, 31, did not confirm his departure immediately after Spain were eliminated by hosts Russia in the last 16 of the World Cup, but he said he had already told Luis Enrique, who succeeded Julen Lopetegui last month as national team coach, that he would not be returning to the set-up.
“I spoke to Luis Enrique a few days ago. He called me and I told him the decision was taken a long time ago and that I had thought about it carefully,” the defender told a news conference on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup game against Sevilla. It was a beautiful time with the national team in which I had the chance to win the World Cup and the European Championship. Now I want to focus on Barca,” he said. “I have a few years left here and I’m going to enjoy them a lot.”
Pique played 102 times for Spain and represented his country at two European Championships and three World Cups, helping his country win their only world crown in 2010 and triumphing at Euro 2012 two years later.
A product of Barça’s cantera, La Masia, Piqué 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 win trebles in 2008–09 and 2014–15. He 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.
Piqué has also represented Spain, 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
n 6 February 2009, Piqué was called up to the senior squad for the friendly against England on 11 February. He played the entire match in a 2–0 win, in Seville. In his second match as an 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. Four days later, he also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage.
Piqué made his tournament debut for Spain at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, starting in four of the team’s five matches as La Rojafinished in third place.
Piqué was Spain’s first-choice centre back playing alongside Puyol at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, starting all seven matches as Spain won the tournament, defeating the Netherlands 1–0 in the final. Piqué’s partnership with Puyol saw Spain concede only twice in seven World Cup matches and keep four consecutive clean sheets in the knockout stage. 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 Casillasand accidentally kicked Piqué in the face, knocking him over and leaving him with a nasty cut beside his right eye.
Piqué played every minute of Spain’s UEFA Euro 2012 campaign, partnering Sergio Ramos in the centre of defence. He successfully converted the team’s third penalty in a semi-final shoot-out win over Portugal. In the final, Spain recorded a fifth consecutive clean sheet in a 4–0 win over Italy. Piqué was one of three Spanish defenders included in UEFA’s Team of the Tournament as La Roja conceded only one goal in six matches.
At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, Piqué was the third of Spain’s seven successful takers in a 7–6 shootout win over Italy at the semi-final stage. On 30 June 2013, Piqué was sent off during the final against Brazil. He received a straight red card in the 68th minute for a violent tackle on recently signed Barcelona teammate Neymar. The match finished 3–0 to Brazil, ending Spain’s world record 29 match unbeaten run in competitive internationals.
In Spain’s opening group game of UEFA Euro 2016 on 13 June, Piqué scored his fifth goal for his country, a late header in a 1–0 victory against the Czech Republic.
In Spain’s second group match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 20 June, a 1–0 win against Iran, Piqué made his 100th international appearance.
On 11 August, Piqué announced his retirement from international football