{"id":37060,"date":"2014-08-05T11:54:36","date_gmt":"2014-08-05T11:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=37060"},"modified":"2014-08-05T11:54:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-05T11:54:36","slug":"xavi-retires-from-international-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/08\/xavi-retires-from-international-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavi retires from international football"},"content":{"rendered":"
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez has announced his retirement from international football.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old won the World Cup and two European Championships with his country.<\/p>\n
He was capped 133 times, more than any other Spanish outfield player, and scored 13 goals.<\/p>\n
Xavi told a news conference in Barcelona on Tuesday: “I’m grateful for all those years. It has been a fantastic time.”<\/p>\n
He made his full Spain debut on 15 November 2000, aged 20, against the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
“I’m not 20 anymore, but I still have the motivation of a kid,” he said.<\/p>\n
He was voted player of the tournament at the 2008 European Championships as Spain ended a 44-year wait for a major international trophy and began a period of domination on the world stage.<\/p>\n
Spain started the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as one of the favourites, but were dumped out of the tournament in the group stages after a 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the Netherlands and a 2-0 loss to Chile.<\/p>\n
Xavi said: “I was going to retire after Euro 2012 but head coach Vicente Del Bosque persuaded me to stay on and go to Brazil, which was of course a huge disappointment for everyone and myself individually.<\/p>\n
“After Euro 2012, it was generally understood I was going to be leaving after Brazil 2014. I hope Del Bosque stays as manager of Spain because I don’t think there is a better man for the job.<\/p>\n
“I want to thank everyone involved in that team for the way they treated me and the respect, and I could not wish for a better time as an international.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez has announced his retirement from international football. The 34-year-old won the World Cup and two European Championships with his country. He was capped 133 times, more than any other Spanish outfield player, and scored 13 goals. Xavi told a news conference in Barcelona on Tuesday: “I’m grateful for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":37070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[29,726,3,1946],"yoast_head":"\n