Sports Stars: July 2011

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Gerard Pique 2011 Picture best Image Photo Gallery Stars

Gerard Piqué i Bernabéu (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒəˈɾar piˈke]; born 2 February 1987 in Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish footballer, currently playing as a central defender for FC Barcelona.

A product of Barça's cantera, he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping the club become the first football club ever to complete The Sextuple. Piqué is one of four players to have won the Champions League two years in a row with different teams, the others being Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Samuel Eto'o.

Piqué has also represented the Spanish national team, making his debut on 11 February 2009. He played an integral role in the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
1 Club career
1.1 Early career
1.2 Manchester United
1.3 Return to Barcelona
2 International career
3 Club statistics
4 Off the field
4.1 Personal life
5 Honours
5.1 Club
5.2 International
5.3 Individual
6 References
7 External links
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 contract.Piqué 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 centre backHe 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.

His performances, most notably in the reserve team, earned him a new contract, which he signed in February 2005 to run until the summer of 2009. On 4 August 2006, however, La Liga side Real Zaragoza secured Piqué on a season-long loan. The conditions of the loan involved Piqué having to feature in at least 20 games for the Aragonese outfitwhich he did, as he made 22 first team appearances in a successful spell, alongside Argentine Gabriel Milito (who would sign with Barça for 2007–08), either as a stopper or a holding midfielder.

On 5 May 2007, it was announced that Piqué would be staying at Old Trafford for the following season. Sir Alex Ferguson had 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. However, Ferguson was unable to appear on account of airline difficulties

Piqué's return to Old Trafford saw him make nine league 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 Piqué scored the first of Manchester United's four goals in that match. In doing so, he became the 450th player to score at least one goal for the club His second goal for the club also came in the Champions League, in an away match to Roma on 12 December 2007