First of all, thank you to all of you who followed Futbolita extensively when we were in Spain! It was great to know that we had your support and we really enjoyed reading your wonderful messages even though we couldn’t respond to all of them.
Here, we’ll be posting excerpts from our Xavi interview, when we met him at Barca’s training centre last month. For one of the world’s top players, he’s certainly a lot more cooler (“Que Ricooo!”) and laid back than I had expected! The interview was originally for Yahoo! S.E.A, so you can read the full piece there.
On the culture of Spain :
“Spanish football is very different from other parts of Europe. There is a lot of focus on records and history here, and I feel privileged to be a part of it with Barca. There are both good and bad times, and when you are criticised, you want to work harder to prove them wrong,” said Xavi, as we walked to his car.
On the World Cup :
“All the fans in Spain deserved it because they’ve supported us for a long time and with so much passion. But victory was especially important to the Catalan people because we also represented them. It’s our goal to make them happy and enjoy our football,” he added.
On making it as a successful footballer :
“Most importantly, you must practise and get your basics right,” he said. “Then you must make yourself available to the opportunities being given to you. Make sure you know where you’re going, and with the right support from your family, friends and the coach, you’ll get there. There’s a lot of hard work and practise in football, and when you have the right qualities, you’ll have a higher chance of being discovered.”
