He is another Barcelona home grown player that has achieved greatness in the world of football. He joined their youth academy in 1991 and moved to the first line up squad of the team in1998.
He has also been playing for the Spanish under-seventeen team since 1997 and made the move to the first team squad in 2000. He was the man of the match of the 2009 Champions League final match as he played a major role in defeating the Red Devils to Barcelona’s
third Champions league win.
He was also the player of the tournament of the UEFA Euro 2008 and was one of the finalists for the FIFA World player of the year in the 2007-08 season.
He has made 357 appearances for Barcelona and netted thirty six goals, while having ninety seven appearances for the Spanish national team with eight goals.
He is a living football legend and one of the key players of the best team of the decade. His input in the team is amazing and Spain’s match against Argentina was left in disarray without him.
Xavi in an incredible player and he adds to the quality of play of the team. He is without a doubt the best midfielder of his generation and played a major role in Spain’s international glory.
He was recently declared as the best Spanish player by the media and is loved by the fans.
Ever Banega
Ever Banega’s name is probably the most contentious one in this list but he is a young, talented and upcoming player.
He is a 22-year-old Argentinean and plays for Valencia. He has been doing so for the last two seasons and has made the Argentinean first team line up under their new coach Sergio Batista.
He started his youth career in 2000, made the jump to professional football in 2007 and joined the Boca Juniors. He was also a part of the national team squad in 2007 and now is a regular in the starting line-up.
Banega played a brilliant match against Spain and was called to be the ‘Xavi’ that Lionel Messi never had in the World Cup.
He has what it takes to be one of the best midfielders in the world though it is hard to argue this now but only time will tell how this player matures in the future.
Andres Iniesta
Andres Iniesta is 26-year-old Spaniard who was part of the World Cup winning squad. He was the special one who scored the World Cup winning goal in the 116th minute for Spain and was named Man of the Match for it.
He has been a part of Barcelona almost all his life, joining their youth academy in 1996, when he was only twelve years old and has never left since then.
He made the jump to the first team in 2002 and has made two 216 appearances for them so far and scored 18 goals.
He has also been a part of the Spanish national team since 2000. He started with the under-fifteen team and then climbed the ladder to the first squad in 2006. So far, the player has made fifty one performances for his country and has scored eight goals
including his World Cup endeavour.
To be continued…
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