{"id":1309,"date":"2016-10-10T15:36:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=1309"},"modified":"2016-10-10T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T19:40:07","slug":"pique-quit-spain-catalonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2016\/10\/10\/pique-quit-spain-catalonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Piqu\u00e9 to quit Spain after Catalonia controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piqu\u00e9 to retire after World Cup<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Barcelona<\/strong> defender Gerard Piqu\u00e9 <\/strong>is set to retire for international football after the 2018 World Cup<\/strong>. His decision comes after controversy over the defender’s shirt in Spain’s<\/strong>\u00a02-0 win over Albania<\/strong><\/a> on Sunday. The 29-year-old caused controversy by cutting the sleeves off a long-sleeve shirt which had the colours of the Spanish<\/strong> flag on it.<\/p>\n

Piqu\u00e9 is well-known for his pro-Catalonia<\/strong> political stance which has made him unpopular amongst some of the Spanish fans. Despite the defender being influential to Spain’s World Cup triumph in 2010, and their two successive European Championship titles; he is often jeered by some sections of the Spanish support – particularly those who support Real Madrid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Piqu\u00e9 claimed he is “tired<\/a>” of the criticism he receives and that he “always give everything I have on the field, but there are people who think it\u2019s better if I\u2019m not here.” However, the 29-year-old insists that his decision to retire came before Sunday’s controversy. He\u00a0added that “I\u2019ll be 31, I\u2019ve won everything with the national team. I\u2019ll try to play my 100th game with the team, and I want to win the World Cup again, which is the most important thing.”<\/p>\n

Piqu\u00e9’s absence will certainly be missed by Spain. His centre-back partnerships with Carlos Puyol and later Sergio Ramos were arguably two of the strongest of all-time. However, his\u00a0decision makes way for other talented Spanish centre-backs such as I\u00f1igo Mart\u00ednez and Marc Bartra to take their place in the first-team.<\/p>\n

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RFEF defends Piqu\u00e9<\/h3>\n

The Real Federaci\u00f3n Espa\u00f1ola de F\u00fatbol (RFEF)\u00a0<\/i>have issued a statement<\/a> defending the World Cup winner.\u00a0The statement declares that “On the contrary to what some\u00a0malicious comments where the Spanish player was accused of cutting the sleeves of the jersey to avoid wearing the band with the national colours.<\/p>\n

In this regard, the RFEF wishes to explain that said band on the Adidas jersey only exists in the short sleeve version, and not on the long sleeve, which is the one Piqu\u00e9 used in the match. The absence of the bands can be seen on the intact version of the jersey worn by teammate Sergio Ramos, who did use the long sleeve.<\/p>\n

Gerard Piqu\u00e9 cut the sleeve with the sole aim of playing more comfortably, the same way other players have done on many occasions.”<\/p>\n

Piqu\u00e9 also gave this reason for his actions, claiming<\/a> “I cut my shirt because the sleeves were very short and they were bothering me. I’ve tried everything but I can’t take it any more, the thing with the sleeve is the straw that has broken the camel’s back”<\/p>\n

Piqu\u00e9 is not the first player to unexpectedly quit international football. Hidetoshi Nataka, who is considered one of Asia’s greatest ever footballers retired from international football aged 29, after making 77 appearances for Japan. His decision came after he believed football was becoming to orientated around money. “Day after day I realised that football had just become a big business. I could feel that the team were playing just for money and not for the sake of having fun” Nataka said in 2006<\/a>. English footballer Peter Knowles voluntarily retired from football in 1970, after an encounter with a Jehovah’s Witness while on tour in Kansas<\/a>. Knowles decision to quit football came after a promising start to his career with the Englishmen rejecting Bill Shankly’s offer to join Liverpool.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n