Gerard Piqué

The original tall defender upbringing La Masia has ever had docked in Manchester United's Gerard Pique Benabeu this is. He is a Spanish football player, and now he plays as a central defender for FC Barcelona. Pique has also represented the Spanish National team, making his debut on February 11, 2009. He played an integral role in the Spanish team, dan won the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Personal Information
Full name : Gerard Pique Bernabeu
Date of birth : February 2, 1987 (age 24)
Place of birth : Barcelona, Spain
Height : 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position : Centre back

Club Information
Current club : Barcelona
Number : 3

Early Career

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Piqué started his career in FC Barcelona's youth teams as a defensive midfielder, but before he signed his first professional contract with the club, he decided to join Manchester United. The Premier League side did not pay a fee for Piqué as he was too young to have a professional contra.
 

Manchester United

 Pique made his debut for Manchester United in October 2004, as a late replacement for John O'Shea in a 3-0 League Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra as a center back. He made his full debut on 29 March 2006 against West Ham United, in a Premier League match at Old Trafford, playing at right back, as Gary Neville was unavailable through injury. On 4 August 2006, however, La Liga side Real Zaragoza secured Piqué on a season-long loan.

Had Sir Alex Ferguson intended to assess Pique's form at La Romareda on 6 May, prior to a meeting where the two parties would discuss Pique's future prospects with the club. Pique's return to Old Trafford saw him make-nine leagues Appearances During the 2007-08 season. He scored on his first start in the Champions League, a 4-0 home win against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007, as Pique scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in that match.

Barcelona

On 27 May 2008, Pique signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, with a € 50 million buy-out clause.  Barcelona paid a £ 5 million fee for the player.  Manchester United is a great club and I enjoyed winning Things. Pique's first goal for Barcelona came in the club's 5-2 UEFA Champions League group stage win at Sporting CP on 26 November 2008.

On 13 May 2009, he picked up the first trophy of his Barcelona career as he helped his club to a 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final. Three days later, Barcelona clinched the league title after Real Madrid lost 3-2 to Villarreal CF, with two games left in the season. On 28 April 2010, Pique scored in Barcelona's semi-final second leg against Internazionale, scoring the only Barcelona goal of the game. Barcelona lost 3-2 on aggregate.

On 2 April 2011, Pique scored the winning goal in an away league match against Villarreal CF, the which saw Barcelona win 1-0, and Hence continue on top of the table for the 17th consecutive week, with an 8-point difference than second -place, longtime Rivals, Real Madrid.

International Career

Piqué was a member of the Spain under-19 side that won the 2006 U-19 European Championship in Poland. 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.

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.However, Piqué missed the deciding penalty against the Czech Republic and Spain were eliminated at the quarter-final stage. On 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.

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. Four days later, he also started in Istanbul in a 2–1 win, also in the group stage.

Pique was Spain's first-choice center 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.

Personal Life

Piqué was raised in a Catalan family. His father, Joan, is a lawyer, and his mother, Montserrat, is the director of a prestigious spinal injuries hospital. He has a younger brother named Marc. His grandfather, Amador Bernabeu, is the former vice-president of FC Barcelona. He is very good friends with fellow club colleague Carles Puyol, Gerard has known his friend, Spanish national teammate and Barcelona teammate Cesc Fàbregas since childhood.

Piqué is currently dating Shakira, whom he met in the spring of 2010 . Piqué was also featured in the music video for Shakira's Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), to celebrate South Africa hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." in Spanish. He uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with his fans and friends

Honours

Club

Manchester United
     Premier League (1) : 2007–08
     FA Community Shield (1) : 2007
     UEFA Champions League (1) : 2007–08

Barcelona
     La Liga (3) : 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
     Spanish Cup (1) : 2008–09
     Supercopa de España (3) : 2009, 2010, 2011
     UEFA Champions League (2) : 2008–09, 2010–11
     UEFA Super Cup (2) : 2009, 2011
     FIFA Club World Cup (2) : 2009, 2011

Spain
     FIFA World Cup (1) : 2010
 Spain U19
     UEFA U-19 Championship (1) : 2006

Individual
     Don Balón Award: Breakthrough Player 2009
     FIFA World XI : 2010
     UEFA Team of the Year : 2010
     ESM Team of the Year : 2011