Xavi Hernández Story
Xavi Hernández Creus was born on January 25, 1980 in Terrasa (Spain).
Xavi started playing football from a very young age and at the age of 5 he was already in a soccer school.
At these ages it is normal for children not to have great knowledge of tactics and positioning, as they just want to run to attack and score goals. However, Xavi already demonstrated that for him football was not that.
His father questioned him why he didn't run for the attack and score goals like his teammates and he replied:
Because if I’m not in the middle of the field, the ball doesn’t blind the attack
At the age of 11, in 1991, Xavi entered the youth team of barcelona.
From a very early age he demonstrated a great leadership personality which made his name among the most promising in the club.
Xavi went through all stages of Barcelona's formation.
In the 1997/98 season, aged 18, Xavi joins Barcelona's 2nd team, Barcelona 'B'.
The great highlight that he had this season made the 1998/99 season he ends up being called to the main team of Barcelona.
His debut was in the Spanish Super Cup game against Mallorca and he scored Barcelona's only goal that he would end up losing 2-1.
This season he was alternating between the main team and team B.
Xavi, this season, won his first La Liga champion title and also won the title of Under-20 World Champion for Spain.
In the 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 seasons, Xavi was gaining more opportunities in the team due to the various injuries that Pep Guardiola was having but was unable to earn his definitive place in the main team.
In the Olympics Xavi won the 2nd place for Spain.
In the 2001/2002 season, after Pep Guardiola left, Xavi became a title player for the main team.
At the end of this season Xavi was called up for the World Cup held in Korea and Japan where he was substituted in a game and played a full game.
Spain were eliminated in the quarter-finals against South Korea.
In the 2002/2003 season, Barcelona continued without winning any title but despite that Xavi showed a great level of football.
This season he participated in 44 games, scored 3 goals and made 9 assists.
In the 2003/2004 season, in spite of all the signings that Barcelona made the club, it remains another blank season without winning any title.
At the end of this season, Xavi was summoned again to represent the Spanish national team this time in the European Championship that was set up in Portugal, but the Spanish national team had a poor performance, not wanting to pass the group stage.
In the 2004/2005 season, things started to change in Barcelona and Xavi started to have more competition for his place with the arrival of Deco (a Portuguese-Brazilian player).
Barcelona and xavi won the title of La Liga champion.
Due to his importance in the Xavi team, he became the vice-captain of the team.
In total Xavi participated in 45 games, scored 13 goals and made 13 assists.
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In the 2005/2006 season, Xavi spent a lot of time off the pitch after an injury in late 2005 that prevented him from playing the rest of the championship.
However, Barcelona would eventually win the Spanish Super Cup, the 2nd consecutive title of La Liga champion and the Champions League.
At the end of the season, despite not yet being 100% physically, Xavi was summoned to the World Cup held in Germany.
Spain would eventually be eliminated in the round of 16.
In the 2006/2007 seasons, Barcelona failed to continue to demonstrate the same football and ended up only winning a Spanish Super Cup in these two seasons.
Despite these poor collective performances and the team was starting to get old Xavi was one of the few that evolved in the midst of this crisis.
In the 2007-2008 season he participated in 54 games, 9 goals and 9 assists.
At the end of this season Xavi arrived at his best in the European Championship.
Xavi would end up winning the title of European champion in the service of Spain, with Xavi being largely responsible for transitioning the ball possession from the defense to the attack.
Xavi was eventually voted the best player in the competition and the 5th best player in the world by FIFA.
In the 2008/2009 season it was the great peak of Xavi's career.
This year Xavi and Barcelona won all the events in which they participated (La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League).
This season, barcelona won the Club World Cup by beating Estudiantes in the final.
Xavi would eventually be voted the 3rd best player in the world and the best midfielder in the world.
This season Xavi participated in 54 games, scored 10 goals and made 30 assists.
In the 2009/2010 season, already 30 years old, Xavi starts the season winning the Super Cup of Foam and the European Super Cup.
Xavi once again won the La Liga champion title but failed to win the Champions League being eliminated by Inter de ilão in the semi-finals.
This season Xavi participated in 53 games, scored 7 goals and made 23 assists.
Xavi was again considered the 3rd best player in the world by FIFA.
At the end of this season Xavi represented Spain at the World Cup held in South Africa where Spain had some favoritism.
Despite the first game, Spain lost against Switzerland, after that they didn't lose any more games and won the title of world champion.
Xavi played a very important role, as he was the conductor of the Spanish team deciding the pace of the game.
In the 2010/2011 season, Xavi and barcelona continued to have great success winning the Spanish Super Cup, La Lida and the Champions League (the 3rd in Xavi's career).
Barcelona of the 64 games played they only lost 6.
They also won the Club World Cup winning the final against Santos FC by Neymar 4-0.
This season Xavi participated in 50 games, scored 5 goals and made 15 assists.
In the 2011/2012 season, he started in the best possible way with the victory of the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup.
In addition to these titles, they also won the King's Cup. However, they did not manage to win the title of champion of La Liga, having been won by Real Madrid.
In the Champions League they would be eliminated by Chelsea.
This season Xavi participated in 51 games, scored 14 goals and made 15 assists.
At the end of this season, Xavi again won the European title at the service of Spain in the Euro. Xavi returned to play a fundamental role in the midfield and ended up being part of the best starting eleven of the race.
In the 2012/2013 season, Xavi and Barcelona only won the title of La Liga champion having been eliminated in the King's Cup and in the Champions League in the semi-finals.
At the end of this season, Xavi became the Barcelona captain.
Xavi returned to represent Spain in the Confederations Cup but lost the final against Brazil 3-0.
In the 2013/2014 season, at the age of 34, Xavi only won the Spanish Super Cup.
In this storm Xavi participated in 47 games, scored 4 goals and made 7 assists.
At the end of the season Xavi once again represented Espenha's selection this time at the World Cup held in Brazil.
Despite being the current title champion, Spain disappointed everyone in a way that no one expected when eliminated in the group stage.
Xavi only participated in the game against the Netherlands and this was his last game for the national team, because after the World Cup he announced that he was going to retire from the national team.
The 2014/2015 season was a special season both because it was Xavi's last season with Barcelona and for the titles he won.
Xavi, due to his age and the fact that the club hired new players, went from starting to substitute used, as he almost always entered the 2nd half of the games.
This season Xavi and Barcelona won 3 titles, namely the King's Cup, La Liga and the Champions League (this being the 4th time that Xavi wins the Champions League).
After 17 years wearing the Barcelona shirt Xavi said goodbye to the club with the following numbers 767 games, scored 86 goals, made 124 assists and won 23 titles.
After leaving Barcelona, Xavi decides to go and play for Al-Sadd (Arab club).
Xavi has played 4 seasons at this club and his quality was well demonstrated on the pitch, eventually winning several titles such as the Emir Cup, the Qatar Cup and the Qatar Super Cup (all this in 2017) and the Qatar League (in 2019).
At the end of the 2019 season Xavi decided to end his career as a player.
For the clubs (Barcelona and Al-Sadd), Cavi participated in 876 games, scored 111 goals, made 212 assists and won 29 titles.
For the Spanish national team, he participated in 131 games, made 24 assists, scored 13 goals and won 3 titles.
Quality stuff @cryptosimplify
Xavi was one of my favourites of all time. Himself and Iniesta made that Barcelona team tick when they were at their best.
Thanks a lot I am glad that you like it