Luis Enrique Reveals Gerard Pique Was On Spain World Cup Shortlist Before Retirement
Spain national football team manager Luis Enrique has revealed Gerard Pique was on his initial 55-man shortlist for the 2022 World Cup before the centre-back announced his retirement earlier this month.
Pique announced his retirement in the first week of November, a decision that came as a surprise to many. He played his last match for Barcelona when the Catalan outfit took on Almeria at Camp Nou in a La Liga fixture.
Pique started the game for Barcelona and featured until the 84th minute, at which point Xavi replaced the centre-back with Andreas Christensen. Barcelona earned a 2-0 win over Almeria in that game.
Pique was also in the Barcelona squad for their next game, which was against Osasuna. However, he could not feature for Barcelona in that game after the referee brandished him a red card when he was an unused substitute. Barcelona, meanwhile, pulled off a comeback win to defeat Osasuna 2-1.
Enrique also heaped praise on Pique, describing him as one of the most important Spanish centre-backs of all time. He also explained why Pique was on the pre-list, noting that the 35-year-old produced some excellent performances last season.
“Pique is a competitive beast, a great player. Last season, he ended up playing injured and producing excellent performances as always. That is why he was on the list.”
Enrique further revealed that he ended up going for continuity which was why he did not pick Pique.
Pique, meanwhile, has featured in 102 games for the Spain national team. He was part of the Spain squad that won the FIFA World Cup in 2008 and the EURO cup in 2012.
Meanwhile, Enrique announced his 26-man Spain squad for the World Cup earlier this week. Sergio Ramos and Thiago Alcantara were among the players omitted from Spain’s final squad for the World Cup.
The post Luis Enrique Reveals Gerard Pique Was On Spain World Cup Shortlist Before Retirement appeared first on The12thMan.
