今日xavi31歲生日了~~
share下呢篇幾好睇的文章慶祝一下先~~
A Legend Worth EnjoyingPosted by Isaiah Cambron
Say his name in almost any bar in the world and you'll get appreciative nods, maybe a smile, someone oohing into their beer. A good one, he is. Say he's the best player in the world and you'll get laughs, though, until you point out what he's done with his life: 5 Spanish league titles, a Spanish Cup, 4 Spanish Super Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, a UEFA Super Cup, and a Club World Cup. And that's just his domestic haul. He's also got a World Cup and a European Cup to polish. But best in the world? Hardly, right?
Well...
Xavier Hernández i Creus has now appeared in more matches than anyone else in the history of FC Barcelona.
550 matches (by Jan 7th), 1 more than Migueli, the Ceutan defender from the 70s and 80s that most thought would never be surpassed. And yet Xavi, as he is known, turns just 31 on January 25. He's been playing in the first team since 1998 and averages nearly 45 matches a year, more than Paolo Maldini did (though Xavi surely can't surpass Maldini's 902 official matches...can he?) and throughout it all--the injuries, the ups and downs on the field itself--Xavi has remained about as regular as you can expect.
He took the subway to training when he was younger, thought about leaving when his way was blocked by Pep Guardiola, and has grown into a mentor for Iniesta. [Watch the whole Informe Robinson video here]
What makes him so great on the field, though, is his patience. He lets the play develop, passes until the other team is ready to let him play through them, and rarely gives the ball away. Sid Lowe writes of him alternately that "In the words of Louis Van Gaal and Alex Ferguson, Xavi gave the ball away once ... sometime back in 1996," and "Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass ... goal." Both are extremely apt descriptions, yet they don't do it justice. He really does make moves for his teammates, passing them into brilliant situations they can't help but take advantage of, but he's also the metronome and the pulse of the team. Shockingly, he covers more ground than anyone on the team while seeming to stand still for most of the match--even Dani Alves is typically below him in distance run.
He's not a goal machine, but
he's a goal creator and facilitator, the man assisting the assist-maker, the linchpin of the midfield both for Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Without him, there would have been no Triplete and no World Cup triumph. Without him, there would be no 5-0 over Real Madrid, nor the 2-6 we all thought couldn't be equaled for a long time. He would best Houdini in an escape competition, he could find a needle in a stack of needles, and he could certainly dance around you on the field. He has ball bearings in his ankles that allow him to pivot without actually moving his feet. He has eyes in the back of his head. And on the side too, just for good measure--GolTV's Ray Hudson calls him Chameleon Eyes.
There is little doubt that this Barça is not a team of individuals cobbled together, but instead an intimate organization of teammates who feed off of each other. And still Xavi shines through. He's a legend and deservedly so. If there were rafters in the Camp Nou (and Spaniards were Americans), he'd get his number raised up there with the best of them.
http://blogs.soccernet.com/barcelona/archives/2011/01/a_legend_worth_enjoying.php
