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Xavi

Xavi
Xavi Hernandez (31521652051).jpg
Xavi in 2016
Personal information
Full name Xavier Hernández Creus
Date of birth (1980-01-25) 25 January 1980 (age 37)
Place of birth Terrassa, Spain
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Al Sadd
Number 6
Youth career
1991–1997 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Barcelona B 61 (3)
1998–2015 Barcelona 505 (58)
2015– Al Sadd 44 (12)
National team
1997 Spain U17 10 (2)
1997–1998 Spain U18 10 (0)
1999 Spain U20 6 (2)
1998–2001 Spain U21 25 (7)
2000 Spain U23 6 (2)
2000–2014 Spain 133 (13)
1998– Catalonia 12 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 05:23, 14 February 2017 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 December 2016

Xavier "Xavi" Hernández Creus (Catalan: [ˈ(t)ʃaβi ərˈnandəz ˈkɾɛws] Spanish: [ˈtʃaβj erˈnandeθ ˈkɾeus]; born 25 January 1980) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Qatari club Al Sadd. Xavi came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11 and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in 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 Barcelona's history to play 150 international matches. Highly regarded for his humble persona and team ethos, Xavi is viewed as being the embodiment of the tiki-taka passing style of play, and is considered to be one of the greatest central midfielders of all time. He is also considered by many in the game to be the greatest Spanish player ever.

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 133 times for the Spain national team, and has been seen as an influential figure in the team's tremendous success. He played an integral role in Spain's victory at the 2010 World Cup, as well as their successes at both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. He had a 91% passing success rate at the 2010 World Cup and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. He was named Player of the Tournament by UEFA at Euro 2008. He was also named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 as well as 2012. After the 2014 World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football.


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Wikipedia

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