Xavier "Xavi" Hernández i Creus born 25 January 1980 is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for FC Barcelona in La Liga and the Spanish national team, as a central midfielder.
Xavi came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at the age of 11. He made his first-team debut against RCD Mallorca on 18 August 1998. Since then he has played 700 matches, scored 82 goals and made more than 180 assists for over 50 players. Xavi is the first player in FC Barcelonas history to play 150 international matches. He is considered to be one of the greatest central midfielders of all time and one of the best playmakers of his generation.
Xavi won the U-20 World Cup for Spain in 1999, and the Olympic Silver Medal at the 2000 Olympics. Since making his senior team debut in 2000, he has been capped 130 times for the Spanish national team, and has been seen as an influential figure in the teams tremendous success. He played a key role in Spains victory at the 2010 World Cup, as well as both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. He was named Player of the Tournament by UEFA at Euro 2008. Xavi was selected in the 2010 World Cup All-star Team, and the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 as well as 2012. Playing for Barcelona, Xavi won the Man of the Match award in the Champions League Final in 2009.
Xavi has won more trophies (25) than any other Spanish player in history. He won the World Soccer Player of the Year award in 2010. Xavi has received five Ballon dOr nominations, and finished in third place in 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2011, he was runner up to Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. He has been awarded the IFFHS Worlds Best Playmaker award for 4 years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Xavi has been included in the UEFA Team of the Year for 5 years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), and has been voted into the FIFA World XI on 6 occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. At Euro 2012, with his 2 assists in the Final, Xavi became the first player to register assists in 2 separate Euro finals, having set up the lone goal in the Final 4 years earlier. He was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2012.
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 May 2014.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 May 2014 (UTC)
Early life
Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Xavi is a product of Barcelonas La Masia youth system and has been a regular at Camp Nou since the age of 11. His father, Joaquim, was a former player for Sabadell in the first division. Xavi made his way through the youth and reserve teams and was a key member of Josep Maria Gonzalvos FC Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Second Division.
International career
He played for the nation at the 2000 Olympics, 2002 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2004, 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012, and 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
UEFA Euro 2008
Fig : Xavi playing for Spain at Euro 2008 where he was named player of the tournament.
Xavi was named Euro 2008s player of the tournament after Spain defeated Germany 1–0 in the final.[35] Xavi was dominant in midfield where his metronomic passing and reading of the game was pivotal to Spains success, in addition to making tackles, shaping attacks and driving Spain to their first silverware since the 1964 European Championships.
Fig: Xavi playing for Catalonia in 2009.
"We have chosen Xavi because he epitomizes the Spanish style of play. He was influential in the whole possession, passing and penetrating kind of game that Spain played," said Andy Roxburgh, head of UEFAs technical committee.
Semi-finals – Russia v Spain (0–3)
Xavi scored the first goal of Spain in the semi-final against Russia.
Final – Germany v Spain (0–1)
Xavi made a pass, rolled towards the German area, from which Fernando Torres scored the final winning goal.
2010 World Cup
Fig : Xavi (left) is tackled by Italys Riccardo Montolivo in the Euro 2012 Final
Xavi was named in Spains squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with Spain eventually winning their first World Cup.
He was able to provide the most number of passes and he crossed the ball inside the 18-yard box more than any other player performing in that tournament. For example, in the final he made 57 accurate forward half passes.
Xavi also covered a lot of distance on the pitch – 80.20 kilometres throughout the competitions, which average at approximately 11.5 kilometres per game. In the final he covered a distance of almost 15 kilometres.
Round of 16 – Spain v Portugal (1–0)
After a backheel pass from Xavi in the 63rd minute, David Villa had his shot with his left foot blocked by Eduardo, but then he put in the rebound with his right foot for the winning goal.
Semi-finals – Germany v Spain (0–1)
Xavi crossed a corner out to the edge of the six-yard box, where Puyol made a header into the top-right corner.
UEFA Euro 2012
Fig : Xavi and Spain captain Iker Casillas with the Euro 2012 trophy
"Pum, pum, pum, pum" – Xavi describes the rhythmic sound of the ball constantly moving between himself and midfield partner Andrés Iniesta.[43]
Group C – Spain v Republic of Ireland (4–0)
Xavi made most passes attempted in a European Championship match: 136 (127 completed, 94% success rate). Previous record for most passes attempted had been set by Ronald Koeman at 117 in Euro 1992 match between Holland and Denmark. Xavi and Iniesta made 229 passes in this match, more than the combined Irish 11 managed.
Final – Spain v Italy (4–0)
Xavi played for Spain at Euro 2012, which Spain won by defeating Italy in the final. With Xavi providing two assists in the final, one for Jordi Alba, and another one, like 4 years ago, for Fernando Torres, he became the first player to register assists in two European Championship finals. With his victory in UEFA Euro 2012, Xavi became the most successful player in Spanish football history, a feat that he previously shared with Carles Puyol, who missed the entire tournament.
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