Gerard Piqué: a life beyond football, the many facets of the former Barcelona captain
Gerard Piqué is, perhaps, the soccer player who has transcended the most in his sports world. In addition to being the world champion and emblem of Barcelona, he captured the covers of the pink, political and economic press
Photo: FCB
LatinAmerican Post | Juan Felipe Rengifo González
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Leer en español: Gerard Piqué: una vida más allá del fútbol, las múltiples facetas del excapitán del Barcelona
Last Saturday Gerard Piqué said goodbye to the Camp Nou fans, wearing the captain's band and leading his team to a 2-0 victory against Almería. And it is that the culé central defender is a true legend, considered by many to be the best in history in his position, he played 616 games, scored 52 goals, and won 30 titles, including 8 Leagues, 7 Copas del Rey and 3 UEFA champions league.
Although the vast majority of his career was played at FC Barcelona, he made his professional debut at Manchester United, with the 'Red Devils' at Old Trafford, winning a League Cup, a Community Shield, a Premier League, and a UEFA Champions League. The other shirt he wore and with which he won titles was that of his nation, with the Spanish team he won the 2006 U-19 European Championship, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
His sports career was also characterized by the strong rivalry he had with Real Madrid, the excessive celebration of his goals in important games such as 2-6 at the Santiago Bernabéu or 5-0 when the Portuguese José Mourinho made his debut in the classics, they are Unforgettable by both his followers and his rivals. The phrases against the eternal rival also have a special place in the Catalan's career, "Kevin Roldán, it all started with you" or "For me, it is a symphony that they whistle me at the Bernabéu" were trademarks.
Beyond football, Gerard Piqué's life has been full of contrasts. In the year he won the World Cup, he began a romantic relationship with the Colombian singer Shakira. As a result of their love, their two children were born despite the abrupt end of their relationship. In June 2022, where there were accusations of alleged infidelity by the soccer player with the public relations specialist Clara Chía, she was considered one of the most stable couples in sports and world entertainment.
The other facet for which the former Catalan soccer player is recognized is that of a businessman, in 2011 he founded the video game company Kerad Games, and although he had a great bet to revolutionize the way of playing soccer both on consoles and on computers with the title Golden Manager, the project did not prosper.
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In 2017, after unsuccessful businesses, his luck changed thanks to the creation of the Kosmos business group together with the Japanese Hiroshi Mikitani, owner of Rakuten, former sponsor of FC Barcelona. The big businesses led by the economic group are to sponsor the Davis Cup, the most important tournament for world tennis teams, and to seek promotion to the first division of Andorra, a team that they acquired in 2018, playing in the fifth division, but thanks to sporting merits It is already in the second division.
At the end of 2021, together with the YouTuber and streamer Ibai Llanos, it acquires the KOI esports team that competes in video games such as League of Legends, FIFA, Valorant, and Call of Duty. Despite his good financial moves in recent years and which have represented millions of euros in profits, there were controversial deals that put him in the eye of the hurricane.
In 2018, through his business group, he produced the documentary "The Decision" in which the French striker Antoine Griezmann announced that he was rejecting his signing for Barcelona and that he would remain at Atlético de Madrid for one more season. This generated a strong rejection of the board of directors led by the former president 'Culé' Josep María Bartomeu.
For the development of the editions of the Spanish Super Cup from 2020 to 2029, Piqué served as an intermediary so that they could be developed in Saudi Arabia, for his management he received a commission of 24 million euros deferred over six years. Due to said negotiation, he was accused of a conflict of interest since he was part of a team that disputed the competition, additionally, the distribution of rights of the participating teams was unequal and unclear depending on the participants.
The footballer left and the legend was born, beyond the controversies.
