Xavi Hernández
Xavier Hernández, commonly known as Xavi (born 25 January 1980 in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish football player who plays as a midfielder for FC Barcelona. Xavi was named the official Man of the match of the 2009 Champions League Final as he helped Barcelona defeat Manchester United to win their third Champions League title. He was named Player of the Tournament by UEFA at UEFA Euro 2008. He is regularly cited among the best central midfielders in modern football.Xavi is a player of Barcelona's youth system and has been a regular at Camp Nou since the age of 11. He quickly made his way through the youth and reserve teams and was a key member of Jordi Gonzalvo's FC Barcelona B team that won promotion to the Second Division.
His progression through the teams earned him a first team debut on 18 August 1998 in the Super Cup final, in which he scored against RCD Mallorca. His début in La Liga came against Valencia CF on 3 October 1998 in a 3–1 victory for Barcelona. Initially featuring intermittently both for the reserve and senior teams, Xavi scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Real Valladolid when Barcelona were 10th in the league, sparking a renaissance in form for the club. Sustained impressive performances quickly meant he become a key member of Louis van Gaal's title winning team. An injury to Pep Guardiola in the following 1999–00 season meant that Xavi became Barcelona's principal playmaker, a position he has retained ever since.
