Xavi: Proud to be in Qatar, expect an amazing World Cup in 2022

Al-Sadd midfielder Xavi Hernandez has expressed his happiness for the time he has spent in Qatar, playing for the Wolves.

Speaking to Qatar TV in an interview, Xavi said: “I am to happy to be here with Al-Sadd, in Qatar. I have confidence in Qatar’s great project to host the 2022 World Cup. I admire this country and its noble people. I always feel at home here with a population that loves football and sport.”

He added: “My daughter Asia was born here 11 months ago. My family is happy and we have a great relationship with Qatar and the Qatari people.”

As for extending his contract with Al-Sadd for a third year, Xavi said: “I am 37 years old now. I feel physically fit and I can help my team to victory. I am very happy to renew my contract and I thank the club managament for that.”

“After 2018, I won’t be able to continue playing. From 2019, I am going to start my coaching career at Aspire Academy alongside the Qatar Olympic team coach Felix Sanchez.”

The Spanish star has not won any titles with Al-Sadd so far and he had this to say when asked about it: “I am very sad that could not win a title with Al-Sadd, although we have played very well. However, we are working hard now with our coach Jesualdo Ferreira and if he had been with us from the beginning of last season, we would have been at a better situation in terms of titles. This has been a very tough season with more than one team competing for the title. We won’t cry over spilt milk. We will give our best on Saturday in order to win the Qatar Cup.”

As for going out of the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, Xavi said: “We’ve had bad luck, with the penalty shootout defeats to Al-Jazira and Esteghlal in two consecutive seasons. We haven’t been fortunate but we will work very hard in order to be in the group stages next season.”

Xavi was also asked about teammate Khalfan Ibrahim’s absence from action. “Khalfan is an excellent player and he is very important for Qatar. He needs confidence as he is a great Qatari talent. He is capable of returning to his old level,” he said.

When asked if Khalfan could move to another club, Xavi remarked: “This is something for Khalfan to decide.”

The talk then shifted to Xavi’s former club FC Barcelona. He spoke of current Barca manager Luis Enrique, saying that he was “fully satisfied with the work Enrique had done with the club for three seasons.”

“I hope he (Enrique) wins the league and cup double to seal a good ending with the team.”

As for Lionel Messi, Xavi said: “Messi is the best player in the history of football but he cannot get the win by himself and he always needs the support of his teammates to win titles. With the Argentine national team, he hasn’t won titles and so it is teamwork that helps him win.”

Xavi also pointed out that Messi has been the world’s best this season with Ronaldo coming in second as Messi has fully outperformed him.

Asked about the UEFA Champions League semifinal between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, the former Barcelona star said: “Of course, I will support Atletico; I can never support Real even if they play against any other Spanish team.”

He added that he had hoped Barcelona would be there in the semifinal round.

Xavi then went on to talk about his work with the 2022 World Cup. “I am very proud of my work as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup, especially as Qatar has given me so much and it is my duty to help the organizing committee in this project to host the World Cup. We had done amazing work as part of this project, in different countries.”

He went on to say: “Qatar is a small country in terms of area but it is big in terms of its work. The Qatari World Cup will be unbelievable and 100% successful. Everyone has seen the facilities which have been completed, like the Khalifa Stadium. Then there is the Al-Wakrah Stadium which is 40% complete. There are much more infrastructure work going on.”

“The players are going to come here in the month of December in excellent conditions and not having any fatigue.”

Xavi added: ” I always speak with the players in Spain about the huge development that is happening in Qatar and in Qatari football. I personally have witnessed this development during my two years at Al-Sadd. I am working on encouraging all those players to visit Qatar or to play in the Qatari league.”

As for the Qatari national team, which hasn’t had good results lately, Xavi said: “The Qatar national team needs to be much better. After the end of the campaign to qualify for 2018, all the players, especially the youngsters, now need to prepare well to make a strong team for the 2022 edition.”

The Al-Sadd captain also had a message to the club’s fans: “We need you on Saturday in the Qatar Cup final and also in the Emir Cup matches. You are the greatest support for us. We really need your help to win my first title with the team.”

Xavi then went on to conclude by saying: “I want to thank all the Qatari people and I want to say that I am very proud to be working here.”