Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez: Twenty years of inspiration
Fans and media alike have run out of superlatives to praise the 31-year-old Spain international, Xavier Hernandez i Creus. Standing short at 5 feet 7 inches, the Barcelona fan favourite might not be the most intimidating of athletes, but he has brought down
even the best of defences with a brain that remains unmatched in the modern game. Synonymous to Barcelona, legend to the Spanish and a role model for many, Xavi has achieved immaculate success during his playing career.
He came through the ranks of Barcelona’s youth system, La Masia, and was a regular member of Barcelona’s B team. The midfielder has been a regular at Camp Nou since the age of 11 and proved his mettle, being a part of Barcelona’s reserve team. After serving
six years in Barcelona’s La Masia, the midfielder forced his way into Barca’s senior team in 1998.
He made his debut in the Spanish Super Cup final against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-CF-c40864 in August 1998 in a 3-1 victory. Xavi gradually started to make in-roads in the senior team and became the
back-bone of the Catalan side following Pep Guardiola’s injury in 1999/00 season. He was also a part of Barcelona’s team which lifted the La Liga title in 1998/99 season, winning the La Liga Breakthrough player of the year award in 1999.
The 31-year-old inspirational midfielder helped Barcelona achieve the treble in the 2008/09 season. The Catalan side defeated Athletic Bilbao in the final of Copa del Rey by a 4-1 margin and Xavi scored the 4th goal in that encounter. He also
inspired his side to the La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League during the same season. Xavi’s importance to the Catalan cause can be gauged by giving the statistics a quick glance; he was the leading assist maker in both La Liga and the Champions League
with 20 and 7 assists respectively. He bagged an award for being the UEFA Champions League best Midfielder. He was Man of the Match in the final of the Champions League and bagged his second award for being the world’s best playmaker, the first one being in
2008. During the same year, he was also awarded La Liga’s midfielder of the year.
The midfielder has been on a perpetual improvement curve and the 2009/10 season was little different in that regard. He was Barcelona’s 2nd best player that season behind Lionel Messi and was awarded the third place in Trofeo Alfredo di Stefano
by the Madrid based paper, Marca. He finished just behind Messi and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629. While individual honours eluded the midfield magician, he won his 5th La Liga title that season with Barcelona.
He finished second behind his team-mate, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 in the 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or but edged past the Argentinean to grab the World’s Soccer Player of the year award. On January 2, 2011, Xavi made his 549th appearance for the club, making him
most capped Barcelona player to date. The long standing record of centre-back Migueli was broken and Xavi still has some years left in his legs.
The diminutive genius has taken his playmaking to the international level, making 101 appearances for La Furia Roja while also bagging 10 goals. Footballing history has seen many talented individuals fail at the international level, but Xavi has gone one
step better when donning the red of Spain. With the 31-year-old pulling the strings from the midfield, Spain landed the 2010 FIFA World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/South-Africa-c757, the very first time in the country’s history.
Xavi has made three appearances in the UEFA Team of the Year (2008, 09, 10) while the FIFA Team of the Year also had him listed in the same years. Better still for the fans of the beautiful game, Xavi is showing no signs of stopping, threading most delicate
of passes with the precision of a surgeon. The day this genius calls it a day would be a sad day for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 and Barcelona would be hoping that the midfielder can inspire their respective sides to even greater glory for geniuses like him are few.
Their magic is to be cherished while they continue to weave their wands.
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