How South Africa's 2010 World Cup helped Gerrard Pique land music star Shakira

Many footballers go to the World Cup with a single objective of making their country proud but Gerard Pique had more than his country to fight for when he came to Africa to play in the 2010 Mundial. 23-year-old Pique was a member of the Barcelona side that dominated world football then. Pique and his Spanish teammates arrived at the World Cup as favorites following the exploits of Spanish teams in major European competitions. While preparing for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with the Spanish team in Madrid, Pique met Shakira after featuring in appearing in the Waka Waka video. The footballer was wowed by the personality of the Columbian singer and wanted the chance to meet her again. Shakira told Pique that he will see him again at the opening or closing ceremony of the World Cup and since the Barcelona legend knew that the opening ceremony was not possible, he vowed to lead his team to the final and get a chance to meet his 'crush' once more. "I told her we would have to get to the World Cup final to see her again - she was singing at the final. Once we got to that stage, we might as well win it. We got there and we won," Pique said in 2016 as quoted by Goal.com. Spain eventually got to the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after beating Germany 1-0 in the semi-finals and went ahead to win the golden trophy with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands with Shakira sitting at the 84,000 seater Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. They got together and started dating months after the World Cup but never got married despite staying together for 11 years and having 2 children. Milan Piqué Mebarak and Sasha Piqué Mebarak are the names of the two children who came out of the relationship between Gerard Pique and Shakira. 11 years after being together, Pique and Shakira officially announced their breakup with a joint statement " "We regret to confirm that we are separating" in June 2022. Pique has also announced his departure from Barcelona after 14 years in his boyhood club. Check out some of the photos of Pique's World Cup celebration, moments with Shakira and Children below: View this post on Instagram

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