Sports Nicknames - Xavi, La Computadora, The Puppet Master

Xavier Hernandez Creus, better known as Xavi, is one of the best playmakers that the game of football has ever seen.



Xavi joined the famous Barcelona FC La Masia school at the age of 11 and he made the first team debut in 1988. He has been a constant presence in the midfield of the team and eventually broke a record for most appearances for the club, a record which was later broken only by Lionel Messi.

During his time at Barcelona Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles among other trophies. He was the team playmaker and together with Iniesta, Busquets and Messi was famous for controlling games with tiki-taka style possession game.

Xavi's passes were accurate to the point that he earned the nickname "La Computadora". He was also known as "The Puppet Master" because of the way he controlled games with his composure, vision, ball control and space awareness.

With the Spanish national team the Xavi story is also full of accolades and trophies. He was an integral part in their World Cup win, as well as the two European Championship wins.

After retirement, Xavi has devoted himself to coaching and it will be a surprise if we do not see him on the Barcelona FC bench pulling the strings in the years to come.

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