Pique was in Spain's World Cup plans before announcing retirement
Karan Tejwani
- 12 Nov 2022 10:00 CST
- 3 min read
Spain manager Luis Enrique has confirmed that he had Gerard Pique in his World Cup plans before the defender chose to call time on his professional career this past week.
Pique made a surprise decision to end his career last week as he no longer felt he could contribute at the highest level, despite playing quite regularly over the last year.
Pique’s final game came against Almeria last weekend and he was given a big send-off, before being in the squad in the week against Osasuna but getting sent-off after a tirade at the referee.
READ: Pique thinks football is "outdated" in Super League backing
Still, Enrique felt Pique was in a good condition to contribute to his Spain side and had him as a part of his World Cup plans for this winter’s tournament, which is set to kick off a week on Sunday.
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Pique was in Enrique's plans
Enrique confirmed that Pique was on the 55-man preliminary shortlist for the World Cup, which was not revealed publicly, before the squad was cut down to 26 earlier this week.
"Yes, Gerard was on the pre-list," Luis Enrique said. "He is one of the most important centre-backs in Spain of all time and I put him on the list not as one of the first options, but as a possibility if anyone dropped out."
READ: Revealed: Why Pique held off retirement to help Barcelona
"Pique is a competitive beast, a great player. Last season, he ended up playing injured and producing excellent performances like always. That is why he was on the list.
Gerard Piqué isn’t showing off or anything. pic.twitter.com/pWBKyVZGtj
— These Football Times (@thesefootytimes) November 11, 2022
"For me, he is a great centre-back. Another thing is the situation with his club, but I can't control that. He is a top-level centre-back. I ended up going for continuity, though, which is why I picked others in the end."
Enrique ended up selecting Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, Barcelona’s Eric Garcia, Villarreal man Pau Torres and Valencia’s Hugo Guillamon as his centre-back options for the World Cup.
