Xavier Hernandez “Xavi”

Xavier Hernández Creus (Born 25 January 1980), nicknamed Xavi, is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the manager of Qatar Stars League football club Al Sadd.

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 widely considered to be one of the greatest central midfielders of all time. He is also considered by many to be the greatest Spanish player ever.

Barcelona

Xavi joined La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11, and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998. In all, he played over 700 matches, a club record, and scored 85 goals. Xavi is the first player in the club’s history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. With Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles. He has won 31 trophies for Barcelona and Spain, a total only surpassed by Andrés Iniesta as the most decorated Spanish player in history. Xavi came third in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year, followed by third place for its successor award, the FIFA Ballon d’Or, in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, he was runner up to Lionel Messi for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

Spain

With Spain, Xavi won the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999, and the Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. After making his senior team debut in 2000, he was capped 133 times for the Spain national team, and was an influential figure in the team’s successes. He played an integral role in Spain’s victory at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. As well as their wins at both UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012. He was named Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2008, and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 and 2012.

At UEFA Euro 2012, with his two assists in the final, Xavi became the first player to register assists in two separate UEFA Euro finals. Having set up the only goal in the final four years earlier. He had a 91% passing success rate at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. After the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football.

World’s Best Playmaker

Xavi was awarded the IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker award four times: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. He was included in the UEFA Team of the Year five times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), and was included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI on six occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. Xavi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2012.

Xavi’s Honours

Club

Barcelona

La Liga: 1998–99, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15

Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15

Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013

UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15

UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011

FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011

Al Sadd

Qatar Stars League: 2018–19

Emir of Qatar Cup: 2017

Qatar Cup: 2017

Qatari Super Cup: 2017

International

Xavi and Spain captain Iker Casillas with the Euro 2012

Spain

FIFA World Cup: 2010

UEFA European Championship: 2008, 2012

Spain Youth

Summer Olympics: 2000 (silver medal)

FIFA World Youth Championship: 1999

Manager

Al Sadd

Qatari Super Cup: 2019

Qatar Cup: 2020

Individual

La Liga top assist provider: 2008–09, 2009–10

World Soccer Player of the Year: 2010

UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament: 2008

UEFA Best Player in Europe Award Second place: 2011

Ballon d’Or/FIFA Ballon d’Or Third place: 2009, 2010, 2011

FIFA World Player of the Year Third place: 2009

UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2008–09

UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year: 2008–09

IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 1999

La Liga Spanish Player of the Year: 2005

Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano: 2nd place 2010, 3rd place 2011

La Liga Midfielder of the Year: 2009, 2010, 2011

FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2010

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2008, 2012

FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

FIFA FIFPro World XI 3rd team: 2014

UEFA Team of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

ESM Team of the Year: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12

Don Balón Team of the Decade: 2010

FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball: 2011

FIFA Club World Cup Bronze Ball: 2009

Globe Soccer Awards Player Career Award: 2013

UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015)

Marca Legend Award: 2015

Decorations

Spanish Sportsman of the Year: 2009

Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2010

Prince of Asturias Award for Sports: 2010 , 2012

Tags: Barcelona, Marca-Legend-Award-World-Cup-2010, European-Championship-2008, European-Championship-2012, La-Liga, Qatar, Al-Sadd, Euro-2012, Sportsman-of-the-Year, Dream-Team, Ultimate-Team-of-the-Year, Copa-del-Rey, Best-Playmaker, Youth-Championship, Qatar-Cup