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Piqué, the anti-Iniesta of Spain

2022-11-06T11:13:25.227Z


The center-back played more than a hundred games with the national team but his controversial statements placed him in the spotlight of a large part of the fans


Only Piqué has been able to be Piqué.

And that there are many

Piqués

, even a trinity: the staff, the businessman and the footballer.

The three have had a link: rather dead than simple.

Therein lies the key to his premature and hasty withdrawal.

Piqué no longer appeared in more photos than in some on the bench.

An unbearable anonymity for someone who was getting bigger puddle by puddle, the ones he stepped on minute by minute.

He was not Brazilian, but he liked the march like no other, either with Riqui Puig or with Kevin Roldán.

There was no party that haggled, he even crossed the Bernabéu to leave his mark with the final goal of 2-6.

But when the end came, even for Piqué the footballer Piqué was insufferable.

In fact, he had already left before he left.

How else can he interpret the cante from Mestalla a few days ago?

Quite a metaphor: Busquets untying his boots on the bench so that he could jump onto the field as soon as possible.

His head was as foreign to football as the boots he no longer wore on time.

Nothing now referred to that wonderful central defender, magnificent header, great articulator of the game from the trench and even capable of winning a race against the best Cristiano Ronaldo.

Al Piqué in fullness - if he did not invent social networks it always seemed so - not even God was silent.

Not even Puyol, who gave him a smack after a smack.

Neither did the Spanish fans, who for an eternity scolded him for playing where he played for lack of Spanish.

Because Piqué, who was so fond of the Madridista chufla, did not play for Spain, he said in the stands and in a good part of the

mediosphere

Castilian.

Piqué, no matter how provocative he was, was more than just a footballer, but a footballer.

And good, very good.

As good as to be world and European champion.

He never wrinkled with his dicks, quite the opposite.

It was consistent with his tolerance of the King's whistles in those cup finals between Barça and Athletic: “People express their discomfort.

I would also ask myself the question from the other side: Why do they beep?

Playing the anthem is not the best decision, but I'm not the one in the stands".

That if a photo with his son in the Diada, that if a finger that looked like a comb with the red shirt while the anthem sounded in a match of the 2016 Eurocup... That if he had ripped the sleeves of the red so that the national flag was not seen... Unequivocally, his messages to Real Madrid had the whole world echoing in the national team: "Spaniards, we have already won your Spanish League and now we are going to win your King's Cup" .

More information

The soloist who led the best Barcelona

There have been not a few donkeys that have stalked the national team, whether they were Arconada's socks or those of Xavi Hernández.

A lot of patriotic charge about a group of young people united as a team to make people happy from any corner and condition.

There were always those who had the

Spanish meter

ready.

And more with Piqué, a loudmouth who, unlike Arconada, Xavi and others, never wanted to deflect the shots except when he appealed to the fact that one of his sons was in the stands in Toulouse, during the 2016 European Championship, wearing the shirt of Spain.

The same one that the demonized Piqué wore neither more nor less than 102 times (five goals).

Too many for someone branded, at best, as an intruder and conspirator.

The Piqué-Spain coexistence became so bitter that there were even debates on the networks about whether the fans would be happy to win a game with a goal from the Catalan center-back.

As hilarious as it is true.

There was no lack of those who accentuated his anti-Spanishness due to his lack of empathy with Sergio Ramos.

Many of those participants in congresses of patriots were the same ones who catalanized Casillas for his good vibes with Xavi,

the machine

.

Little by little, with Sergio Ramos things got better.

They did not get to

colleague

, but there was a truce, for his own good and that of that Spain that the azulgrana supposedly reviled so much.

“I guess there is no need to say anything else... We are a magnificent team”, the Catalan defender wrote on Twitter, along with the photo that illustrates this article with Sergio Ramos hanging, after La Roja's victory against the Czech Republic in the premiere of the 2016 European Championship in France (1-0).

A triumph with a goal from Piqué in the 87th minute. “Geri, I'm telling you in Andalusian: take away 'lo bailao', crack!

Enjoy life! ”, The Sevillian wrote these days on his Twitter account when he learned of the withdrawal of his former partner.

Gerard Piqué, visibly moved at the end of the match, when he addressed the Camp Nou crowd.

The defender has been fired after 15 seasons at Barcelona.

The match ended with victory (2-0) for the azulgrana against Almería. ALBERT GEA (REUTERS)

Gerard Piqué and his sons Milan and Sasha greet the fans at the end of the match against Almería.

Both have accompanied his father on his last day at the Camp Nou.Joan Monfort (AP)

Tribute of lights at the Camp Nou to celebrate Piqué's brilliant career, with 30 titles. ALBERT GEA (REUTERS)

The Barcelona squad kills a smiling Gerard Piqué at the end of his last game. ALBERT GEA (REUTERS)

Gerard Piqué's tears, microphone in hand.

The central defender was unable to contain his emotion after a very special night. Toni Albir (EFE)

Piqué poses with his family at the end of the match on the Camp Nou bench.Marta Pérez (EFE)

Piqué gives the lap of honor at the end of the game, with the entire Barcelona squad in midfield. ALBERT GEA (REUTERS)

Xavi, coach and former teammate of Piqué, hugs the defender after replacing him with Christensen in the 85th minute. Toni Albir (EFE)

Piqué greets the stands before the match.

The support has been maximum since the warm-up. JOSEP LAGO (AFP)

Piqué throws himself to the ground to intercept the advance of Gonzalo Melero, from Almería, during the La Liga match that serves as the Barcelona player's farewell. Socrates Images (Getty Images)

Gerard Piqué looks out of the corner of his eye towards the stands during Barcelona's match at the Camp Nou against Almería.

The fans have chanted his name throughout the game and have applauded him every time he has touched the ball. Eric Alonso (Getty Images)

The day of his goodbye, Gerard Piqué has been very solid in defense.

In the picture, he controls the ball during the match. Quality Sport Images (Getty Images)

The shirt that Barcelona has worn tonight against Almería.

The message "Sempr3" on the front serves as a tribute to celebrate Gerard Piqué's career and retirement. Alex Caparros (Getty Images)

Jordi Alba and Gerard Piqué hug each other before the match.

Both players have shared costumes in Barcelona for 11 seasons and have also been teammates in the Spanish National Team, with which together they achieved the 2012 European ChampionshipALBERT GEA (REUTERS)

A fan shows a banner thanking Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué.

He refers to him as "his president of him", since the defender has always made it clear that he dreams of one day presiding over the club.Marta Pérez (EFE)

Gerard Piqué disputes the ball with Largie Ramazani, the most active player in Almería's attack. Joan Monfort (AP)

Gerard Piqué blows kisses to the public before starting his last match as a FC Barcelona player. Socrates Images (Getty Images)

Vicente del Bosque, the coach who directed him the most, never had a reproach for Piqué, neither in public nor in private.

In 2015, at Barça's fifth European Cup celebrations, Piqué was

grateful

with Kevin Roldán, the Colombian singer hired on Cristiano's birthday after Atlético beat Real Madrid 4-0.

The stir was considerable.

So much so that Del Bosque himself intervened, a person so patient and tolerant to the point of being fed up: “He has not said anything serious, but there is a great incitement by some media to hate.

What better than messing with a Catalan player.

Patriotism must be shown.

And he unnerves me and makes me angry because whoever whistles for a Spanish player, who has 70 caps, whistles for the Spanish team”.

Del Bosque recalled that, after all, Piqué was celebrating the victory "of a Spanish team" in the European Cup.

Not even Del Bosque's mediation calmed the spirits.

Piqué finally gave up after the World Cup in Russia.

He maintained that the matter of the sleeves and the flag was the last straw for him.

The glass of someone who made his debut as a starter for Spain on February 11, 2009, in a friendly match against England at the Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville.

In his second match, against Turkey (1-0) in the qualifying phase for the 2010 World Cup, he scored his first international goal.

It was March 28, 2009. So damning and disturbing has Piqué always been that he scored that debut goal against the Turks... at the Santiago Bernabéu.

A reflection of Piqué, cool like few others, grown like no one else on big occasions.

Angry like no one else in the fields of that Spain that recruited him with his blessing more than a hundred times.

Piqué, by his grace and misfortune, the

anti-Iniesta

of Spain.

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Source: elparis

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