It may have been a spur-of-the-moment overreaction and Gerard Piqué would not be the first Spain centre-half to be talked out of retirement after Carles Puyol’s U-turn in 2010, but if he sticks by his decision to stop playing international football in 2018 can he really be blamed?
The Barcelona player, one of the best defenders to have played for Spain, has long been vilified for taking a strong pro-Catalonian independence view and the poisonous reaction to him cutting the sleeves off his full-length shirt as opposed to wearing a short-sleeved one that bears the country’s flag during the 2-0 win against Albania on Sunday night was the final straw.
Related: Gerard Piqué admits that Spain’s golden era may have come to an end
Continue reading...