Nearly two months after Shakira stated that she had sacrificed her career to put her former, Gerard Piqué, first, Piqué announced that he is hanging up his soccer cleats and called it a career.
The 35-year-old soccer player announced Thursday night in an emotional video montage addressed to FC Barcelona fans by their Catalan nickname, Culers. Piqué sits and views old home film of himself as a youngster, first supporting for Barcelona and later playing with the team’s junior program, in the video.
Piqué seemingly addresses all the talk surrounding his split from the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer and her recent comments to Elle magazine when he says, “The last few weeks, months lot of people have been talking about me. Until now, I haven’t said anything. But now, I want to be the one talking about me.”
The soccer star then shifts gears to discuss his longtime aim of being a Barcelona footballer, as well as all of the other goals he has achieved over his illustrious career.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that kid lately. About what little Gerard would have thought if he had been told that all his dreams would come true,” he says in Catalan. “That he would make it to Barça first team. That he would win every trophy possible. That he would become European Champion. And World Champion. That he would play alongside the best players in history. That he would become one of the team’s captains. That he would make friends for life.”
He said, “And now that all that kid’s dreams have come true, I want to tell you that I’ve decided that now is the time to bring this journey to its end. I’ve always said that there would not be any other team after Barça. And that’s how it will be.”
Piqué, widely regarded as one of the finest defenders of his time and a key component of Spain’s 2010 FIFA World Cup victory, has stated that Saturday’s game at Camp Nou (Barcelona’s home stadium) will be his last. His career will formally come to an end on Tuesday when he plays in Pamplona, Spain. Later in the video, he mentioned his children, Milan, 9, and Sasha, 7, whom he shares with Shakira, but did not address them by name.
“I will become a regular fan. I will support the team. I will pass my love for Barça to my children, like my family did with me,” he said.
Piqué’s retirement announcement surprised his colleagues and club executives. T he crew enjoyed a supper together one day before the announcement. Joan Laporta, the team’s president,said the soccer legend had considered retiring for some time, but the news on Thursday came as a surprise and was unexpected.
In any case, the revelation comes almost two months after Shakira told Elle magazine that her breakup with the soccer player after 12 years was “probably the darkest hour of my life.”
When asked what finally led to her breakup from Piqué, Shakira seemed to reference the career sacrifices she made for their family. The family was headquartered in Barcelona because he had spent so many years playing for Barça.
“I put my career in second gear and I came to Spain, to support him so he could play football and win titles,” she said. “And it was a sacrifice of love. Thanks to that, my kids were able to have a present mom, an