One of the most prolific and exciting midfielders to watch at his prime was Xavi Hernadez of Spain.
His announcement didn’t come as a shock to many with Spain’s early World Cup exit and to consider the fact that the Barcelona playmaker have gone into a decline with his recent performances.
Xavi followed in the footstep of Spanish compatriot and former Barcelona teammate David Villa who announced his retirement from international football hours after Spain’s first round elimination.
You will agree with me that few midfielders can be compared to Xavi in the last decade with his decisive passing ability and an eye to craft out opportunities out of nothing.
Xavi got to his prime rather late at the age of 28 and helped Barcelona to dominate European football from 2009 to 2011 when they won two champions league trophies playing and winning both finals against Manchester United.
Under Pep Guardiola, Xavi became a real force and his wonderful matured display at the 2010 World cup in South Africa helped the Spanish team win the Mundial for the first time in their history after winning European championship in 2008 and also won it later in 2012.
Xavi’s career is in no doubt a successful one with his accumulation of trophies. Added to the ones above, Xavi also won silverware with FC Barcelona including La Liga titles and world club championship titles.
The 34 years old midfielder made his international debut on 15th November 2000 against Netherlands and he amazed a total of 133 international appearances with 13 goals and three major international trophies to back it up with only Iker Casillas having international appearances in the current Spanish setup.
Talking of Xavi, Spain’s coach, Vicente Del Bosque, said: “I would like to show my recognition to a fantastic player,” Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque said after he announced his international retirement on Tuesday.
“We have lost a unique player in the national team and it will be difficult to find another one like him.”
“Xavi has been the key in Spain’s style and in all the success achieved. We’ll miss him so much on and off the pitch.”
The main plus for the midfield maestro is the fact that he overcame all odds to show his qualities despite his inability to compete with footballing athletes as believed by many.
Xavi who understood the game and played with high level of intelligence was also very deadly from the spot scoring a number of well taken free kicks.
His ability to hold on to the ball as long as the team needs him to also show a very rare attribute as opponents struggled to get the ball off him.
Timing and precision of passes left very few players in this era to be compared to his level.
Xavi Hernandez is a real pure class of intelligence, creativity, vision and good understanding of the game and whoever will be stepping into his shoes in the Spanish national team set up will have a whole lot to prove.
Xavi will surely be missed in La Roja.
