Wikipedia
Xavier "Xavi" Hernández Creus ( ; born 25 January 1980) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Qatari club Al Sadd SC. Xavi came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at the age of 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 some 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 Spanish 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.
Xavi won 28 trophies, only surpassed by Andrés Iniesta as the most successful Spanish player in history. He 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. He has been awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award for 4 years: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. Xavi has been included in the UEFA Team of the Year for 5 years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), and has been voted into the FIFA World XI on 6 occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. At Euro 2012, with his 2 assists in the Final, Xavi became the first player to register assists in two separate Euro finals, having set up the lone goal in the Final 4 years earlier. He was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2012.
Xavi is a Spanish given name, usually used as a nickname for Xavier. Notable people with the name include:
- Xavi (born 1980), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Andorrà (born 1985), Andorran footballer
- Xavi Annunziata (born 1987), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Lleonart, Spanish field hockey player
- Xavi Molina (born 1986), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Moro (born 1975), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Rabaseda (born 1989), Spanish basketball player
- Xavi Rey (born 1987), Spanish basketball player
- Xavi Torres (born 1986), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Valero (born 1973), Spanish footballer
- Xavi Vallmajó (born 1975), Spanish basketball player
- Xavi Vierge (born 30 April 1997), Spanish motorcycle racer