Barcelona’s Spain defender Gerard Pique has confirmed his retirement from international football.

The 31-year-old centre-back made 102 appearances for his country between 2009 and 2018, scoring five times.

He was part of the Spain team that won their first World Cup in 2010, before adding the 2012 European Championship.

His appearances were often greeted with jeers and whistles by Spanish fans, partly because of his support for Catalonia’s independence referendum.

“I spoke to Luis Enrique a few days ago. He called me and I told him the decision was taken a long time ago and that I had thought about it carefully,” Pique said on Saturday.

“It was a beautiful time with the national team in which I had the chance to win the World Cup and the European Championship. Now I want to focus on Barca,” he added.

“I have a few years left here and I’m going to enjoy them a lot.”