Former Spain coach Javier Clemente has defended Gerard Pique after the Barcelona defender announced that he plans to retire from international football after the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Pique was the subject of criticism during Spain's 2-0 win over Albania on Sunday, with suggestions circulating that he had cut the Spanish colours off his shirt sleeves as a way of expressing an anti-Spain, pro-Catalan sentiment.
However, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) quickly released a statement denying that was the case, saying that both Pique and Sergio Ramos had cut the sleeves off their long-sleeved shirts to feel more comfortable, but the Barca player said the continued criticism had led him to quit.
Clemente, who coached Spain between 1992 and 1998, said in an interview on Cadena Ser: "Pique's a player who say things others don't because he's brave.
"He's a player that says what he feels and to me he seems really honest, because he's really sincere, and sometimes that sincerity works against him.
"If he says he's leaving the national team because he has suffered criticism -- and I think there has been a lot [of criticism] -- and he's tired of it all and thinks it's best to leave, then I praise him for his sincerity."
Pique's former Barca teammates Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez both found themselves at the centre of a similar debate after Spain's game against Latvia in 2007 when their socks did not have the same Spanish colouring around them as some of their teammates.
Puyol tweeted on Sunday night: "This all sounds very familiar."
Pique has been involved in several controversies.
During the European Championship in France this summer he was accused of deliberately putting up his middle finger during the national anthem, and he has regularly been whistled by Spain fans for nearly two years due to what some see as his anti-Real Madrid and pro-Catalan independence views.
"It's not because of what happened today," Pique said on Sunday as he explained his reasoning for announcing his international retirement. "It's because I always give my best on the field and, although there are some people who have thanked me, some don't think it's OK for me to be here."