Football Player Profile: Xavi Hernandez – The King of Passing
Xavi Hernandez, the Barcelona star, is undoubtedly one of the best midfielders of all time. His ability to pass the ball around and taking the role of a centre midfielder is amazing. He can dribble the ball, give through balls and even play the ball at the back. He was known as the "danger man" throughout the FIFA World Cup 2010, as he was a constant threat to his team's opponents.
In South Africa, his statistics clearly showed how great a player he is. He has made the highest number of passes in the FIFA World Cup 2010 and no other player even came close to him. Barcelona's style of passing was clear when Spain played the amazing "possession" football. After Xavi, there were 2 other Barcelona men who played the most passes in the FIFA World Cup 2010. They were Sergio Busquets and Gerrard Pique, who combined amazingly at the back and did not let their opponents score. Sergio Busquets played 555 passes and was able to complete 490 while Gerrard Pique played 506 passes and completed 429.
On the other hand, the "king of passing," Xavi Hernandez managed to impress everyone when the stats were revealed. He was able to play 669 passes, which is the highest number of passes played in the FIFA World Cup 2010 and he actually completed 544 from them. The amount of passes that he completed actually reaches the amount of passes that his team mate, Busquets, played. These statistics put him on the top of the ranking for the tournament.
Xavi Hernandez did not only manage to impress the football fans in the FIFA World Cup 2010, but he is also a key player in his club, Barcelona. Throughout the last season, he was a player that made a difference in the team. He was able to provide Lionel Messi, Bojan, Iniesta, Henry and even Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with great assists that led to goals. Xavi Hernandez was the team's leader in terms of assists. 31 passes that he played during the last season at FC Barcelona were turned into goals by the strikers. That means he had 31 assists and that made him the biggest assister of the Spanish league and the club, Barcelona.
Spain had an amazing run in the FIFA World Cup and everyone knew that Spain is going to possess the ball throughout the game, as many Barcelona stars were teaming up together. Xavi Hernandez was supposed to be the key player throughout the games that were played in South Africa, as he was playing in the centre midfield and the defenders and the strikers were relying totally on him, as he used to pass the ball around brilliantly.
Just because he was in the centre roll, he was able to pass the ball to Iniesta, David Villa and even Pedro, and they created many opportunities throughout the tournament. David Villa, who is now a Barcelona star, was the golden boot nominee in the FIFA World Cup 2010 but did not manage to win it as the German youngster Thomas Muller had more assists.
Xavi was able to show the world that dribbling the ball is not the only thing that you require to win the game and passing the ball is better than dribbling and losing it eventually. Therefore, Xavi and company made sure that they play in the FIFA World Cup 2010, just like they played in Barcelona. Thanks to this "possession keeping" football, Spain made most of the passes in the tournament and even made a record as they topped Brazil in most of the passes played. Brazil's record in 1994 was of 3547 passes which was topped by Spain this year, as they led the team to win the World Cup. They made 3753 passes and won the FIFA World Cup 2010 and were crowned as Champions of the World.
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