Biography of Gerard Pique
Gerard Pique (full name Gerard Pique and Bernabeu) is a man whose whole life, one way or another, is inextricably linked with Catalonia.
He was born in Barcelona, played for Barcelona, and also became its real star. Today, this star footballer is one of the most exciting players in the entire history of Catalan football. After all, he is a true leader both on and off the football field. As Barcelona president Joan Laporta recently admitted, after Carles Puyol retires from the sport, the captain's armband of the Catalan club will most likely go to Gerard Pique. This significant event will probably happen very soon. In the meantime, all we can do is just wait - wait and admire the bright play of a talented player with an equally bright destiny...
Childhood and family of Gerard Pique
As mentioned above, our today's hero was born in the very heart of Catalonia - the city of Barcelona. The future player's childhood was spent in prosperity and prosperity. Still would! After all, Gerard Pique’s grandfather was Amador Bernabeu himself (!) - the former vice-president of Barcelona, as well as a former bright player of the Catalan club.
Footballer Gerard Pique played for various European clubs
Perhaps it was this circumstance that prompted the young boy to take up football for the first time. Although, most likely, Barcelona itself played the main role in the development of the player. After all, in this city football is more than a sport! This is real religion.
One way or another, our today’s hero had the opportunity to be in a football academy for the first time at the age of ten. After passing a difficult selection, he became a player in one of Barcelona’s junior teams, Alevín A. It is very noteworthy that at that time the head coach of this team was the well-known Tito Vilanova, the future coach of the Barça adult team. The squad included such bright young players as Cesc Fabregas and Leonel Messi.
Childhood and youth
Gerard Pique, whose photo can be seen in our article, was born in February 1987 in Barcelona. Despite the fact that his parents had nothing to do with sports, the boy’s future fate was predetermined almost immediately. The fact is that his grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, was the vice-president of the main club of Catalonia.
For the first time, Gerard Pique began fiddling with the ball at the age of one and a half years, which greatly amused his grandfather. At the age of 10, the future Spanish football star was accepted into the La Masia football school, the legendary Barça academy.
After playing for various youth teams of the Catalan club, Gerard Pique began playing for the second team of Barcelona B in 2001. Here his partners were such modern legends of world football as Lionel Messi and Cesc Fabregas.
Gerarda Pique in big football
Without going into details, we note that Gerard Pique’s development as a professional football player occurred at a rapid pace. In just a few years, he went through all the levels of the club hierarchy and very soon began playing for Barcelona B. It was during this period that the talented seventeen-year-old boy was noticed by scouts of the English club Manchester United, who very soon contacted the player with an offer of cooperation. So already in 2004, Gerard Pique found himself in one of the most titled clubs in Europe.
Club career
Manchester United (2004-08)
Despite his enormous talent, Pique never became a solid starter for the Red Devils. The Spaniard lost the competition to more eminent competitors in position and, at best, was content with practicing in unimportant matches. For the sake of stable playing time, in the summer of 2007 he was loaned to the Spanish Zaragoza. To sum it up, the performer played only 23 matches at Old Trafford, in which he scored 1 goal and gave 2 assists.
Zaragoza (2006-07, loan)
The period in the Aragonese camp turned out to be productive: the defender demonstrated that he is capable of progressing in the right hands and the right atmosphere. Gerard helped Zaragoza finish in the UEFA Cup zone, appearing in 28 matches and scoring three times.
Photo: twitter.com
Barcelona (2008 - present time)
In July 2008, Pique joined Barcelona for 5 million euros. Working under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, Gerard proved that he is a top-class footballer. Having formed a lethal team with Carles Puyol, he gained valuable experience and later became an indispensable element in the tactical formations of the “cules”.
Today he is a recognized legend of the club, the soul of the locker room and, as is also the case, the object of various scandals. As of May 2020, he played in 531 matches, scored 46 times and provided 13 assists.
Gerard Pique at Manchester United
Gerard Pique joked with the Barça physiotherapist, throwing seeds at him, and blamed everything on Puyol. On July 1, 2004, the talented defender joined the Mancunians, and three weeks later he took to the field for the first time in the T-shirt of the legendary club.
The player’s debut was a cup match against the Crewe Alexandra team, representing one of the lower divisions of England. In that match, Manchester United won a landslide victory without conceding a single goal. However, despite this, subsequently Gerard Pique did not appear on the field often. Between 2004 and 2006, the young defender took part in only ten games of the main team, but despite this, in 2005 he extended his contract with the club until 2009.
In 2006, by decision of the management, Gerard Pique was sent on loan to the Spanish Zaragoza. He spent a whole season at this club, but upon his return he was unable to prove his professional suitability to Manchester United. He appeared on the field relatively rarely, playing only thirteen games in the 2007/2008 season. The only bright spot that year was the debut in the Champions League, which happened in a meeting with Dynamo Kyiv.
Shakira is a passionate fan of Barça and her husband Gerard Pique
Achievements of Gerard Pique
"Manchester United":
- Winner of the English Championship 2008
- Winner of the English Super Cup 2007
- League Cup Winner 2006
- Winner of the UEFA Champions League 2008
Barcelona:
- Champion of Spain: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
- Champions League winner 2009, 2011
- Winner of the Spanish Cup tournament 2009, 2012
- Spanish Super Cup winner: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013
- UEFA Super Cup winner: 2009, 2011
- Club World Cup winner: 2009, 2011
Team Spain:
- Bronze medalist of the Confederations Cup 2009
- World Champion 2010
- European Champion 2012
- Silver medalist of the Confederations Cup 2013
A new round in the career of football player Gerard Pique
After returning to Catalonia, a new era began in the player's career. Already in his debut season of 2008/2009, Gerard managed to gain a foothold in the “base” of his old-new club, and also won a huge number of titles with it. That season, Barça smashed everyone and everything, managing to win the Spanish Championship, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the Club World Cup, and some other tournaments in one year.
Footballer Gerard Pique is married to singer Shakira
Since then, Gerard Pique has become an important link in the team formation of his native club. This state of affairs continues to this day. It is also worth noting that the inspired play in the Catalan club forced the coaches of the Spanish national team to pay attention to the player as well.
In 2009, the player made his debut with the Red Fury. It is quite remarkable that with the arrival of Pique, a new era began in the national team of this southern country. Since 2009, this team has been collecting titles one after another. Thus, as part of the main team of his country, the footballer managed to become the World and European Champion, as well as win bronze and silver awards at the Confederations Cup.
Football
Gerard's debut in Manchester took place in October 2004. He was brought on as a substitute for John O'Shea in the English League Cup match. The young football player took the position of central defender. He successfully played for both the main and reserve teams of Manchester United. A good result allowed him to extend his contract with the club until 2009.
Gerard Pique at Manchester United
In 2006, the Spanish club Zaragoza rented Pique from Manchester for the season. Gerard didn’t like this; he understood that most often such “rental” ends in resale. But he didn’t want to leave Manchester United. But such experience was simply necessary for a football player.
At Zaragoza, Pique was constantly in the starting lineup and showed excellent playing qualities. True, upon returning to Manchester United, he appeared on the field extremely rarely, playing only 23 matches during the season. In 2008, England decided to sell Gerard to Barcelona for €5 million.
Gerard Pique at the Zaragoza club
At the end of the 2008-2009 season, he finally gained a foothold in Barcelona, becoming its leader. From that moment on, a new era began in the football player’s career. And this season has become truly successful for the club. Barcelona won the Spanish championship, the Champions League, and also won the King's Cup. Such a victorious “triplet” has never been achieved by any Spanish club.
Pique's fast and efficient play attracted the attention of Spain national team head coach Vicente del Bosque. Gerard's debut for the national team took place on February 11, 2009. It was a friendly match with England, which Spain won.
Gerard Pique at Barcelona
In the summer of 2009, Gerard and the national team participated in the Confederation Cup in South Africa. In the tournament, the Spanish team took only third place. But already in the summer of next year the World Cup was held there. And this time Spain won. In the final they met the Netherlands team, the game ended with a score of 1:0.
In 2012, the team participated in the European Championship. And the Spanish football players became champions again. Her results were brilliant. In all the Championship games, Gerard's team missed the only goal, and in the decisive game the team literally crushed the Italian team, winning them dry - 0:4.
Gerard Pique in the Spanish national team
Following the results of Euro 2012, Pique was included in the symbolic team of the tournament - a team consisting of the best players of the championship who play in national teams of different countries.
The following year, at the Confederation Cup in Brazil, the Spanish team lost only to the hosts of the tournament, becoming second. It was in the match with Brazil that Pique received a red card for a foul against Neymar and was sent off in the 68th minute.
At the 2014 World Championships, Gerard only played in the first match of the group stage due to hip pain. The team lost in this game - the Netherlands team beat them with a crushing score of 1:5.
Football player Gerard Pique
During his career, Gerard Pique as part of Barcelona became the champion of Spain 6 times, 5 times winner of the Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. He is also a 3-time UEFA Super Cup winner. He won the UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup three times.
In October 2021, Gerard Pique announced that he plans to leave the national team immediately after the 2021 World Cup.
Gerard Pique - Shakira's husband
Since February 2011, our today's hero has been in a romantic relationship with the famous Colombian singer Shakira.
In January 2013, the couple announced the birth of their common son, Milan. After this, rumors about an allegedly impending wedding began to periodically appear in the press. However, such information has not yet received official confirmation. In everyday life, Gerard Pique is a passionate fan of beautiful cars and poker.
Another passion of his is stylish clothing. Perhaps this is why in 2012 the football player decided to sign a major advertising contract with the Mango brand, which is well known in the CIS countries.
