Barcelona center back Gerard Pique may have the small matter of a Champions League semifinal second leg at Bayern Munich to deal with on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop the longtime Spain defender from turning a bit nostalgic. He tweeted out a photo Sunday of some of the most treasured jerseys he’s traded for over the years.
Some of the biggest names in world soccer made the cut, with a Leo Messi Argentina shirt, a Neymar Brazil jersey, an Andrea Pirlo Italy top and a Luis Suarez Uruguay shirt all featured in Pique’s collection.
A few players with Major League Soccer connections have also swapped shirts with Pique, with Thierry Henry’s France jersey, Frank Lampard’s England shirt and David Beckham’s Paris Saint-Germain jersey (how’s that for a collector’s item?) on display in the photo.
The shirt that sticks out the most though, didn’t come from a player in a top European league or a World Cup-winning national team. No, the most memorable jersey – for our purposes, anyway – is from MLS, with Landon Donovan’s LA Galaxy No. 10 shirt catching our eye in the bottom row of Pique’s photo.
The picture clearly grabbed Donovan’s attention too, with the retired USMNT and Galaxy legend responding to Pique’s initial tweet.
Pique and Donovan met several times on the field, both playing a role in the USMNT's second goal in the Americans’ shock 2-0 win against Spain at the 2009 Confederations Cup.
