Xavi

Xavi

Profile:

Full name     Xavier Hernández i Creus[
 
Date of birth     25 January 1980 (age 35)
 
Place of birth     Terrassa, Spain
 
Height     1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
 
Playing position     Midfielder

Club:

Current team   Barcelona
Number     6

Early life:

  Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Xavi is a product of Barcelona's 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 Gonzalvo's FC Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Second Division.

As a child, Xavi watched a lot of English football, and held midfielders John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne and Matt Le Tissier in high regard.

Style of play:

The claim that Xavi is one of the best central midfielders of all-time[4][5][6] relies largely on his ability to find and exploit space. As he said: "That's what I do: look for spaces. All day. I'm always looking".Finding space, he would appear for a team-mate to receive and then move the ball on, with his coach Pep Guardiola putting it: ‘I get the ball, I give the ball, I get the ball, I give the ball’.

Xavi's abnormally good vision, pinpoint accurate passing and world class ball control allow him to dictate the flow of play while rarely relinquishing possession. His ability to completely control some matches has earned him the sobriquet, "The Puppet Master".A style introduced to the club by former coach Johan Cruyff, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell believed Xavi, together with Messi, Iniesta and Busquets, perfected the club's tiki-taka style of play.

UEFA Euro 2012:

 "Pum, pum, pum, pum" – Xavi describes the rhythmic sound of the ball constantly moving between himself and midfield partner Andrés Iniesta.

    Group C – Spain v Republic of Ireland (4–0)

Xavi made most passes attempted in a European Championship match: 136  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.

Retirement:

 On 5 August 2014, following the 2014 FIFA World Cup where Spain were eliminated at the group stage, Xavi announced his retirement from international football having made 133 appearances for the national side in a 14-year period.

Spain's World Cup winning manager Vicente del Bosque paid tribute, stating that Xavi was 'a key part of the team's style of play' and 'he was more important to us than even the manager', and added 'We will miss him both on and off the pitch. He is a player who we hold in great esteem both personally and as a player. He is and always will be a person and a player who is greatly valued by the federation, the coaching staff and by myself.'

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