Spanish Cumpleanos: Gerard Pique

Posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

1902: Josep Samitier (died 1972): Although he played as a midfielder, Samitier is second on Barcelona's all time goal scoring list with a total of 326 goals. Nicknamed the Magician, Samitier later played for Real Madrid, then known as Madrid CF. During his playing career he also represented Spain and won a silver medal with La Furia Roja at the 1920 Olympics. After retiring he coached Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and while in charge of Barcelona he was involved in a botched attempt to sign Alfredo di Stefano, who went on to become one of Madrid's all-time greats.

1965: Quique Sanchez Flores: Presently coach of Atletico Madrid, Flores began his career with Valencia. Operating as a right back he played 232 league games for Los Che before joining Real Madrid where he won a league title in 1995. He retired in 1997 while at his third club Real Zaragoza and cut his teeth in management with Madrid's youth team before later coaching Getafe after they won promotion to the Primera Liga. After just one season Flores returned to the Mestalla as coach. He was sacked in 2007, later becoming Benfica coach but left the Portuguese outfit last summer and took over from Abel Resino as Atleti coach last October.

1969: Valeri Karpin: Now CEO of Spartak Moscow, former Russian midfielder Karpin came to Spanish football in 1994 joining Real Sociedad. Karpin was almost ever present in each of the three teams he played for in Spain. After Sociedad he played for Valencia and Celta Vigo before returning to the Basque outfit where he retired in 2005. In total he managed 68 goals and 383 Primera Liga appearances. He was capped 72 times by Russia.

1980: Oleguer: Versatile Catalan defender Oleguer broke into the Barcelona first team in 2003 and went on to make 167 appearances for the Blaugrana before switching to Ajax in 2008. During his time at Camp Nou he won two Primera Liga titles, one in a double with the UEFA Champions League in 2006.

1982: Sergio Castano: After failing to impress as a youth at Sevilla, midfielder Castano moved to the lower leagues of Spanish football with his most notable stint being with Xerez between 2005-2007. He currently plays in Spain's third tier with Pontevedra.

1987: Gerard Pique: Although originally a Barcelona canterano, Pique spent four years with Manchester United before returning to the Catalan giants in 2008. He is one of three players [ the others being Paulo Sousa & Marcel Desailly] to have won the UEFA Champions League in successive seasons with different clubs. After returning to Catalunya Pique was an integral part of Barca's most successful ever campaign which saw them lift an unprecedented six trophies in 2009. To date he has 13 caps for Spain.