Xavi: Spain's Best Ever?

Sebastian Shepard — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 09:18:44 +0000

After the most recent edition of El Clàsico, I’ve heard lots of pithy statements about Spanish football. The best was, “Mourinho should punish Sergio Ramos by forcing him to play as a defender.” Most people praised Barcelona’s incredible football. The Spanish speaking commentators I listened to repeatedly called the Blaugrana’s style a dance; it was hard to disagree. For around twenty minutes (really), between the 50th and 70th or so, Real Madrid conceded two and touched the ball about as many times. Nevermind a 5-0 win against the best coach in the world, the passing game alone was among the most humiliating things I’ve seen Los Blancos endure, right up there the 2-6 and 0-3 destructions at the Santagio Bernabéu in 2009 and 2005.

But for all the talk of the best Barcelona team of all time, there may have been several more “best ofs” on the pitch on Monday. Whether or not Messi is the best anything (current footballer, Barcelona footballer, Argentine footballer, all time footballer) is premature and inappropriate. He may be in his seventh season, but he’s only 23, and will have many more years at the top of football to make his claim. Personally I think he’s the best, but I also think he’ll convince those who still doubt.

Instead, I want to put forth the idea that Xavi might be Spain’s best ever player. He has incredible competition for this accolade, including claims from players like Real Madrid’s Raúl and Alfredo Di Stéfano (who was given Spain’s UEFA Jubilee Award spot, awarded to the best player from 1954-2003).

Mostly I want to put forth that he deserves this recognition because of what he has done with Spain. Raúl and Di Stéfano are more legendary at their clubs than they are for La Furia Roja, probably because for all their trophies (Eight Champions Leagues and 14 League titles between them), Spain won nothing during their tenures. Indeed, for most of Raúl’s Spanish career, the team was known for choking rather than winning. Admittedly, Di Stéfano never got the chance to play for Spain at a World Cup and his Euro 1960 competition was cut short due to global politics.

But Xavi has been there for La Roja and his club. He’s been the best midfielder on the planet since at least Euro 2008, both for club and country. While some players have set the world alight for a season, Xavi has been untouchable domestically, in the Champions League, and with Spain for years. If his most recent performance in El Clàsico is any indication, he’s either still at his peak, or he hasn’t reached it yet (the second thought must be horrific for defenses everywhere).

The only trophy he doesn’t have is the Confederations Cup, and even if he doesn’t win it in 2013, I think the rest of his record will forgive him this absence. After all, he does have World Cup and European Championship titles, in addition to his two Champions League victories, Club World Cup win and a clutch of domestic trophies.

But it’s not just his amazing haul with two of the best ever sides (Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona and Spain 2008-present), it’s his performances and displays for them both that really make me think he’s potentially Spain’s best.

People say Internazionale Milano’s Javier Zanetti never had a bad day, and as a follower of the Serie A, I can say it’s almost always true. But for Xavi, over the past five seasons (but especially the last three), one has to say: he always has a good game.

His passing and vision has been the best in the world. He seems to refuse to give the ball away where it could hurt his team (or anywhere, for that matter). If he seems to “connect” with his teammates for both Spain and Barcelona, it’s probably because his passes are so accurate, and his vision is so great, that his teammates can’t help but use them. Granted, it doesn’t hurt that he plays with an unbelievably gifted group including most of the other best players in the world (I barely exaggerate), but he seems to be the common denominator, the glue that holds both groups together.
For me, Monday’s El Clàsico showcased the importance of such glue. Mourinho’s Madrid never had a player metronomically keeping the team together from the midfield, despite having a similarly talented collection of players. Barcelona did, and smashed Los Blancos 5-0. And with his performance, capped by a goal, Xavi added another piece of evidence to his claim to be Spain’s best ever. But don’t think it will be the last; he has several more seasons in him. So for those of you who doubt, watch Xavi while you can. Then you might be able to say, “I saw Spain’s best.”

Which Team Will Win the 2010 World Cup ?

Rami Soufi — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:43:50 +0000

Most of the heavy favourites have already qualified for the World Cup due next summer in South Africa. Previous World Cup winners such as Brazil, Germany, England, Argentina and Italy (also current WC Winners) all booked their spot in South Africa following a long and arduous road. Some teams such as Argentina have struggled while others such as England have cruised, yet the World Cup stage is a different playing field and previous results will not count. The only two teams with an outside chance that have yet to qualify are France and Portugal while the Spaniards have impressed in their group following their 2008 triumph in Europe.

Spain cannot be overlooked due to its rich talent, in particular the likes of David Villa, Xavi Herndandez and Fernando Torres among others. Other than Spain, the English national team under Italian Coach Fabio Capello had an impressive tally of points after convincingly navigating the qualifying group stage. Capello can count on the likes of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, and Steven Gerrard to carry England all the way into the final stages.

The Brazilians and the Germans as well as the Italians often perform their best when it matters most. Brazil has a plethora of talent beginning with current Real Madrid star Kaka and stretching to right-back Maicon who plays for Inter Milan. The Italians are current World Cup holders so there will be additional pressure on the Azzurri to perform following a relatively uninspiring qualifying campaign. It will be wrong to undermine Italy’s chances when considering that Gianluigi Buffon is recapturing his best form which had him labeled as the best custodian in the world while Daniele De Rossi remains a considerable driving force in the midfield engine room.

While Argentina had a horrendous sequence of results before securing qualification in the very last match, it is not wise to exclude the Argentines from the list of potential winners though Diego Maradona as a coach has shown over and again that he not only lacks the know-how but also is clueless when it comes to strategies, team selection and tactics. After all, Argentina still has Lionel Messi though he continues to underperform when compared to his exploits with Barcelona.

Will one of the traditional powers (i.e. Brazil, Germany or Italy) or will an emerging nation (Spain and England) or a new rising team (Ivory Coast) triumph in South Africa? For the record no European team has ever won outside Europe and the trend could very well continue if Brazil performs up to expectations or perhaps a surprising African package rises to the occasions just as the South Koreans did in Asia 2002 when they made it to the semi-finals.

World Cup News from World Cup Buzz » Xavi Hernandez

Xavi: Spain's Best Ever?

Which Team Will Win the 2010 World Cup ?