Xavi

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Xavi
Xavi Hernandez (31521652051) .jpg
Xavi (2016)
Personnel
Surname Xavier Hernández i Creus
birthday January 25, 1980
place of birth Terrassa ,  Spain
size 170 cm
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
1991-1997 FC Barcelona
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1997-1999 FC Barcelona B 61 0(2)
1998-2015 FC Barcelona 505 (58)
2015-2019 Al-Sadd Sports Club 82 (21)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
1997 Spain U17 10 0(2)
1997-1998 Spain U18 10 0(0)
1998-2001 Spain U21 25 0(7)
1999 Spain U20 6 0(2)
2000 Spain Oly. Games 6 0(2)
2000-2014 Spain 133 (12)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2019– Al-Sadd Sports Club
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of career

2 Status: end of career

Xavi [ ˈ (t) ʃaβi ] (born January 25, 1980 in Terrassa ; real name Xavier Hernández i Creus ) is a former Spanish soccer player and today's coach . His position was the central midfield. He has played for FC Barcelona since his youthand moved to Al-Sadd Sport Club in Qatar in July 2015, where he ended his career in May 2019.

With his club he was eight times Spanish champion and won the Champions League four times . In 2008 and 2012 he was European champion with the Spanish national team and 2010 world champion . Xavi is the player with the most European Cup appearances and the most competitive appearances at FC Barcelona and, after Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo, the player with the third most appearances in the Champions League.

As a coach, he won the Qatari Sheikh Jassim Cup 2019 with Al-Sadd .

Career as a player

society

Xavi during training in spring 2008
Xavi and Zlatan Ibrahimović (2009)
Xavi with Carles Puyol (left) and Lionel Messi (right) (2011)
Xavi in ​​the jersey of the Al-Sadd Sport Club (2018)

Beginnings in La Masia

Xavi Hernández i Creus was born in Terrassa in the Catalan province of Barcelona and has played for FC Barcelona since he was eleven . He was trained in La Masia and rose in 1997 from the youth team of FC Barcelona to the second team . He quickly became a key player in the Barcelona reserve team and became third division champions with the team in 1998.

Path to the Barça legend

He played his first competitive game for the first team in the 1998 Spanish Super Cup against RCD Mallorca . In his first season, 1998/99 , with the A-team of FC Barcelona, ​​he won the Spanish championship with his team . He made his league debut for Barcelona on October 3, 1998, a 3: 1 away win against FC Valencia . Xavi became a fixture at Barcelona in the years that followed and played in almost every competitive game. He took over the role of Pep Guardiola as playmaker at FC Barcelona and is mainly used in central midfield.

In the 2004/05 season he was voted the best Spanish player in the Primera División by the coaches of the Spanish league. In December 2005, Xavi suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament and was out for six months. On April 30, 2006, he made his comeback against FC Cádiz . Also in the 2006/07 season he was a top performer at FC Barcelona and played 42 competitive games for the club. Nevertheless, this untitled season was disappointing for him. In the following season , Xavi won, although he had scored more goals than ever (seven) in the league, also no title at club level.

Under Pep Guardiola as the new coach, who replaced Frank Rijkaard for the 2008/09 season , Xavi played the best season of his club career. Barcelona first won the Spanish Cup this season by beating Athletic Bilbao 4-1 , with Xavi scoring the last goal from a free kick. The Spanish league was won a little later in a dominant way with 105 goals scored. Barça's 6-2 win at Real Madrid on matchday 34 of this season was also historic . Xavi prepared four of the six goals in this game. On May 27, 2009, Barcelona finally made the triple win with a 2-0 win over Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final . This Champions League season, Xavi was named the best midfielder in the competition, where he set up Messi's 2-0 in the final. At the end of 2009, Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup , the Supercopa de España and the FIFA Club World Cup , making Barça the first team in the world to win all six possible trophies in one year.

At the end of 2008, Xavi extended his contract, which was dated to 2010, for another four years until 2014. The contract includes a fixed transfer fee of 80 million euros. On June 9, 2010, his contract was extended, as a result of which it is automatically extended by two years until 2016 if Xavi plays at least half of the games in the last two seasons of his regular contract. In 2010 , Xavi successfully defended the Spanish championship with Barcelona. In the 2-0 win at El Clásico at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Matchday 31, Xavi prepared both goals. Xavi was used in 34 of 38 league games and at the end of the season even played despite a calf injury. On January 2, 2011, he played his 549th game for Barça, setting the previous record for defender Miguel Bernardo Bianquetti , who played for Barcelona in the 1970s and 1980s. In January 2013, Xavi extended his contract with FC Barcelona until summer 2016.

On November 6, 2013, he achieved the 80th victory in the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona , making him the sole record holder. Before that he had shared the record of 79 wins with his compatriot Raúl . On December 10, 2014, Xavi became the sole record player of the UEFA Champions League with his 146th appearance when he came on for Andrés Iniesta in the 73rd minute of the 3-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain and thus the previous record holder Ryan Giggs replaced. On September 16, 2015, Iker Casillas drew level with 151 games. Ilker Casillas now tops the list with 156 games. In the 2014/15 season he was triple winner with FC Barcelona. Among other things, they won 3-1 in the Champions League final against Juventus, the Spanish Cup and the league. With coach Luis Enrique, but this season he has had fewer appearances than ever before.

After the 2014/15 season , Xavi left the club after 24 years - 17 of them as a first-team player - and moved to the al-Sadd Sport Club in Doha to end his career there.

Career end in Qatar

On November 13, 2017, Xavi initially announced his retirement after the season, but abandoned his plans in May 2018 and extended it for another two years. At the beginning of May 2019, Xavi announced his retirement after the end of the season. By the end of the season he won the championship title with al-Sadd and also reached the final game of the Emir of Qatar Cup , which was lost to al-Duhail SC 1: 4.

National team

Xavi in ​​the European Championship final 2012 in a duel with Riccardo Montolivo

Xavi has played regularly for the Catalan football team since 1998 .

In April 1999, Xavi was at the Junior World Championship with Spain in Nigeria World Champion .

On November 15, 2000, he played his first game for the Spanish national team against the Netherlands (2-1) . Xavi was part of the Spanish squad at the 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championship . His use at the 2006 World Cup in Germany was questionable. Before the 2006 World Cup , his then coach Luis Aragonés said the following about Xavi's status in the Spanish national team : "Some people say it is a lottery game to appoint Xavi to the World Cup squad, but I say we would risk even more, if we would leave him at home. ” Xavi presented himself as a top performer for the Spaniards at the World Cup and was voted“ Player of the Game ”in the first group match against Ukraine.

On September 6, 2006, he scored Spain’s 1000th international goal in a 3-2 draw against Northern Ireland .

In 2008, Xavi was able to win the 2008 European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland with the Spanish national team and was voted the best player of the tournament. In the final of this tournament he gave the winning goal scorer Fernando Torres the pass to make the decisive 1-0.

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa , he was in the starting line-up in all seven games and only played in the group game against Honduras for the full length of the game. On July 11, 2010, he won the World Cup with Spain after winning the 1-0 final in extra time against the Netherlands .

On March 25, 2011 he made his 100th international match in a 2-1 win against the Czech Republic as the second Spanish field player after Raúl .

In the qualification for the European Championship 2012 , world champions Spain qualified with 26: 6 goals and eight wins in eight games. Xavi had met twice. National coach Vicente del Bosque played with a 4-6-0 formation at times, without real strikers and with very attacking midfielders. In this line-up, Xavi took on the role of an offensive force who, as usual, provided forward-pushing players with templates. Spain was the first team to ever defend the European championship.

At the Confederations Cup 2013 he reached the final with Spain for the first time, but lost there against hosts Brazil after a record series of 29 competitive games without defeat.

On June 7, 2014, he achieved his 100th win in an international match with Spain. He is the first outfield player to do this. Otherwise, only the Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas could win more than 100 internationals and defender Sergio Ramos 100 internationals.

At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil , he was eliminated from the group stage with Spain . As a result, Xavi resigned from the national team on August 5, 2014 at the age of 34. His last international match was the 1: 5 against the Netherlands in the first group game of the World Cup.

Play style and skills

Xavi mainly played in the central midfield, where his strengths such as game intelligence, ball security, accuracy of fit and overview came into play best. He could also take a more defensive position, which allowed him to set the pace of the game. His weaknesses included the header game and the lack of goal danger. He himself said: “I should score more goals. But when I get to the penalty area, I almost always decide to pass and not shoot. "

His father Joaquim was also active in soccer, played in lower-class teams until he was 37 and founded a soccer school in Xavi's hometown, which Xavi then attended. His father said of him at the time: “All the boys just wanted to storm forward and score a goal themselves - with the exception of Xavi. He delivered the passes from the second row and stopped counterattacks well in front. "

Career as a coach

After the end of his career, Xavi took over the al-Sadd Sport Club for the 2019/20 season as the successor to the previous head coach Jesualdo Ferreira . In August 2019 he won his first coaching title with the Qatari Sheikh Jassim Cup . In January 2020, FC Barcelona contacted Xavi and wanted to sign him as the successor to Ernesto Valverde as head coach. Xavi said that his dream would be to train FC Barcelona one day, but that he still thinks the time is too early. Instead, FC Barcelona signed Quique Setién as their new head coach.

titles and achievements

Xavi (left) and Sergio Busquets with the Henri Delaunay Cup (2012)

As a player

National team

society

Individual awards

As a trainer

Web links

Commons : Xavi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Al Sadd crowned Sheikh Jassim Cup champions. August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019 (American English).
  2. ↑ a b FCBarcelona.cat: Xavier Hernández Creus ( Memento from January 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ weltfussball.de: Match schedule / line-up: Valencia CF - FC Barcelona (Primera Division 1998/1999)
  4. ↑ a b kicker online: Xavi is out for a long time .
  5. ↑ weltfussball.de: Xavi> Primera Division 2005/2006
  6. ↑ weltfussball.de: Xavi> Club Games
  7. ↑ telegraph.co.uk: Barcelona defeat Athletic Bilbao to win Copa del Rey , May 14, 2009
  8. ↑ guardian.co.uk: Barcelona dazzle against Real Madrid but aerial weakness brings Chelsea hope May 2, 2009
  9. ↑ FANartisch: Goal video: Real Madrid - FC Barcelona 2: 6 (goals + highlights in the summary, 4 videos) , May 2, 2009
  10. ↑ guardion.co.uk: Champions League final: Barcelona v Manchester United - as it happened , May 27, 2009
  11. ↑ kicker online: Xavi will stay with Barça until 2014 .
  12. ↑ sport1.de: Xavi costs 80 million euros , December 20, 2008
  13. ↑ FCBarcelona.com: Xavi extends deal until 2016 ( memento of June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), June 9, 2010
  14. ↑ spox.com: Real Madrid - FC Barcelona 0-2: victory in the Clasico! Barca march towards the title , April 10, 2010
  15. ↑ Barcelona finds its smile again. 11 FRIENDS, May 3, 2010, archived from the original on May 6, 2010 ; Retrieved January 13, 2013 .
  16. ↑ krone.at : Xavi equalizes the club record in a 2-1 win over Levante , accessed on January 3, 2010
  17. ↑ Xavi Hernández signs through 2016
  18. ↑ fifa.com: "Barça" star Xavi with a winning record ( Memento from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ FC Barcelona: Xavi Hernández: the architect of this Barça , May 21, 2015, accessed on May 21, 2015.
  20. ↑ OFFICIAL: XAVI EXTENDS STAY AT AL-SADD UNTIL 2020. al-saddclub.com, May 24, 2018, accessed on May 25, 2018 (English).
  21. ↑ Ex-Barcelona star Xavi announces the end of his career. sport.orf.at, May 3, 2019, accessed on May 3, 2019 (German).
  22. ↑ rsssf.com: Catalonia Autonomous Team Matches 1912-2004
  23. ↑ fifa.com: "The eight greatest moments in Xavi's career"
  24. ↑ FIFA.com: Xavi named EURO's best ( July 1, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive ), June 30, 2008
  25. ↑ bbc.co.uk: BBC SPORT | Football | Euro 2008 | Germany 0-1 Spain , June 29, 2008
  26. ↑ kicker online: Xavi
  27. ↑ Xavi Hernández, 100 partidos con La Roja ( Memento of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  28. ^ Xavier Hernández Creus “Xavi” - Century of International Appearances
  29. ^ Xavi Hernández: "My time with the National Team has come to an end" ( Memento of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), August 5, 2014
  30. ↑ All international matches
  31. ↑ a b kicker online: Xavi - The Barça brain .
  32. ↑ OFFICIAL: Xavi to take over as Al-Sadd head coach , al-saddclub.com, accessed on May 28, 2019.
  33. ↑ FC Barcelona contacts Xavi , kicker.de, January 11, 2020, accessed on January 17, 2020.
  34. ↑ Xavi explains Barça cancellation , kicker.de, January 16, 2020, accessed on January 17, 2020.
  35. ↑ https://en.as.com/en/2017/05/19/football/1495230790_142072.html
personal data
SURNAME Xavi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hernández i Creus, Xavier (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION spanish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Terrassa , Spain