Xavi HERNANDEZ
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Spain
Xavi is viewed as being the embodiment of the tiki-taka passing style of play, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest central midfielders of all time. He is also considered by many to be the greatest Spanish player ever. La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at age 11, and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998. In all, he played over 700 matches, a club record, and scored 85 goals. Xavi is the first player in the club's history to play 150 European and FIFA Club World Cup matches combined. With Barcelona, Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles. He has won 31 trophies for Barcelona and Spain, a total only surpassed by Andrés Iniesta as the most decorated Spanish player in history. Xavi 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 With Spain, Xavi won the FIFA World Youth Championship in& 1999, and the Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. After making his senior team debut in 2000, he was capped 133 times for the Spain national team, and was an influential figure in the team's successes. He played an integral role in Spain's victory at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as well as their wins at both UEFA Euro 2008 and UEFA Euro 2012. He was named Player of the Tournament at UEFA Euro 2008, and was named in the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament in 2008 and 2012. At UEFA Euro 2012, with his two assists in the final, Xavi became the first player to register assists in two separate UEFA Euro finals, having set up the only goal in the final four years earlier. He had a 91% passing success rate at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was named in the World Cup All-Star Team. After the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Xavi announced his retirement from international football. Xavi was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award four times: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. He was included in the UEFA Team of the Year five times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), and was included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI on six occasions: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. Xavi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2012.
