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<SPAN class=art-title2>Pique: Togetherness breeds success</SPAN> <TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Gerard Pique (L), a key figure in Spain's quest to claim gold at Canada 2007, pictured in action for Real Zaragoza against Sevilla on 06 January 2007.
</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> <SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Pedro ARMESTRE
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<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">01 Feb 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Unable to carve out a niche for himself at his boyhood team, a talented Spanish youngster packs his bags and heads for British shores. That is a story that has been repeated with ever-increasing regularity in recent years, with lifelong Barcelonista Gerard Pique Bernabeu a perfect example.
Despite sharing a surname with the illustrious former president of Real Madrid, young Gerard received his footballing education in and around FC Barcelona's hallowed Camp Nou. Unsure of what the future held at the Azulgranas, where a first-team opportunity was by no means guaranteed, Pique made the gutsy decision to pull up sticks and head for England and the open arms of Manchester United.
"In Spain, the big clubs are under enormous pressure to win every game, and that pressure stops them from taking a chance on youth team players. The opportunities for home-grown youngsters are very limited, and that makes you think twice about where your career is going," Pique tells FIFA.com. "Even though I've been a culé (Barça fan) since birth, played for them all the way through the youth ranks and would have loved to have won things wearing their shirt, first and foremost I'm a professional footballer. And if I need to go to England to achieve that goal, then so be it."
"I think that young Spanish players perceive England as a way to enjoy a better future as a professional footballer," he explains. "That's because over there they don't get hung up on your age - when they see that you're ready for first-team action then in you go. Here [in Spain] that's a lot less likely." Pique speaks from personal experience. After joining the Red Devils at the age of 16 back in 2004, he was made to wait a mere four months before being given his first-team debut by United manager AlexFerguson. The classy defender has since played more than ten top-flight games for the current league leaders.
"Leaving your family, friends and your country behind is tough, especially when you're so young. But I'd given an awful lot of thought to that decision and it's turned out well," underlines the U-20 international. "Two years living alone in England helped me grow up both on and off the field. I really hope that my time there has not come to an end."
At the start of this season, Pique's employers decided that a return to Spain on laon from Real Zaragozawould be the best way of guaranteeing regular top-level action. "I came here because they were putting together a very attractive project involving world-class players, and we knew that we were capable of making a real impact in the league," says Pique, whose contract at Old Trafford runs until 2009. "There was a great deal of optimism in the camp and, at the halfway point of the campaign, we can say that things are going well."
The sheer quality of the players competing for a place in the Zaragoza rearguard should do wonders for the Manchester United man's footballing development, although he has found that a starting role does not come cheap. "I've got two seriously great players in Sergio Fernandez and Gabi Militoahead of me in my position. There's fierce competition for places in the team and that has driven me to keep improving as a player ev
</TD></TR><TR class=paddingall><TD vAlign=top>
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>Gerard Pique (L), a key figure in Spain's quest to claim gold at Canada 2007, pictured in action for Real Zaragoza against Sevilla on 06 January 2007.</SPAN><SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>(AFP)</SPAN> <SPAN class=textblack11px_bold>Pedro ARMESTRE
</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">01 Feb 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Unable to carve out a niche for himself at his boyhood team, a talented Spanish youngster packs his bags and heads for British shores. That is a story that has been repeated with ever-increasing regularity in recent years, with lifelong Barcelonista Gerard Pique Bernabeu a perfect example.
Despite sharing a surname with the illustrious former president of Real Madrid, young Gerard received his footballing education in and around FC Barcelona's hallowed Camp Nou. Unsure of what the future held at the Azulgranas, where a first-team opportunity was by no means guaranteed, Pique made the gutsy decision to pull up sticks and head for England and the open arms of Manchester United.
"In Spain, the big clubs are under enormous pressure to win every game, and that pressure stops them from taking a chance on youth team players. The opportunities for home-grown youngsters are very limited, and that makes you think twice about where your career is going," Pique tells FIFA.com. "Even though I've been a culé (Barça fan) since birth, played for them all the way through the youth ranks and would have loved to have won things wearing their shirt, first and foremost I'm a professional footballer. And if I need to go to England to achieve that goal, then so be it."
"I think that young Spanish players perceive England as a way to enjoy a better future as a professional footballer," he explains. "That's because over there they don't get hung up on your age - when they see that you're ready for first-team action then in you go. Here [in Spain] that's a lot less likely." Pique speaks from personal experience. After joining the Red Devils at the age of 16 back in 2004, he was made to wait a mere four months before being given his first-team debut by United manager AlexFerguson. The classy defender has since played more than ten top-flight games for the current league leaders.
"Leaving your family, friends and your country behind is tough, especially when you're so young. But I'd given an awful lot of thought to that decision and it's turned out well," underlines the U-20 international. "Two years living alone in England helped me grow up both on and off the field. I really hope that my time there has not come to an end."
At the start of this season, Pique's employers decided that a return to Spain on laon from Real Zaragozawould be the best way of guaranteeing regular top-level action. "I came here because they were putting together a very attractive project involving world-class players, and we knew that we were capable of making a real impact in the league," says Pique, whose contract at Old Trafford runs until 2009. "There was a great deal of optimism in the camp and, at the halfway point of the campaign, we can say that things are going well."
The sheer quality of the players competing for a place in the Zaragoza rearguard should do wonders for the Manchester United man's footballing development, although he has found that a starting role does not come cheap. "I've got two seriously great players in Sergio Fernandez and Gabi Militoahead of me in my position. There's fierce competition for places in the team and that has driven me to keep improving as a player ev