Barcelona, Aug 12 : FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said that he will never again play for Spain's national football squad, despite the 2010 FIFA World Cup winners beginning a new era with his former club coach Luis Enrique Martinez.

"I spoke with Luis Enrique one or two weeks ago. He called me and I told him I had taken that decision some time ago and that it was a decision I had thought about a lot," he told a press conference on Saturday, reports Efe.

Pique noted that his time as a defender with the national selection was "very beautiful," since he had been with the team that won the European Cup and the World Cup, but now that's all in the past.

"Now I want to concentrate on Barcelona. I hope I have many years here and I want to really enjoy them," he said.

 

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Tel Aviv, Dec 21: A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.

A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 am Saturday, the military said.

The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.

The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.

The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won't stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides' attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine UN mediation efforts.