Gerard Pique: In Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Almeria on Saturday, Gerard Pique played his final match at Camp Nou and promised the crowd he would return.
After Tuesday’s game against Osasuna, the 35-year-old centre back, who has 30 medals to his name with the club, including three Champions League championships and eight La Ligas, will retire.
After more than 14 years in the Barcelona first team, Pique was applauded by the crowd the entire game. At the conclusion of the match, his teammates gave him a lap of honour and threw him into the air as over 92,000 fans stayed in Camp Nou to honour him.
“Thanks to my team-mates, the staff and everyone who helps us to make everything so easy,” Pique said in a speech to the supporters after the game.
“To the board as well, for these years. When you get older, sometimes loving is letting go.
“After a relationship of such love and passion, I think it was the moment to leave some space, to give some air. I am sure in the future I will be back here again.”
“It’s not a goodbye. I left after 17 years to get some air. My grandfather made me a club member. I was born here and I will die here.”
Pique was facing criticism lately
Pique, a member of Spain’s World Cup and Euro 2012 winning teams, sobbed throughout his statement and then played catch with his kids on the field as the crowd finally dispersed. Prior to speaking on television once more, he received some special praise from board members and president Joan Laporta at a private reception at Camp Nou.
Pique left after a period in which the defender had received criticism for some of his performances and had fallen to the position of fifth-choice center-back.
In a time of generational shift for Barcelona, fans have applauded the Catalan defender for leaving, and president Joan Laporta claims that Pique’s departure will also save the team money as they try to strike a contract termination agreement.
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