One of the best midfielders in Spanish soccer history has tested positive for coronavirus. On Saturday, Xavi Hernandez of Terrassa, Spain announced he was asymptomatic, but tested positive prior to the restart of the Qatar Stars League according to Tom Sanderson of Forbes Magazine.
This weekend Al-Sadd, the professional soccer team that Hernandez currently manages in Qatar, was having its first Qatar Stars League game since March 7. They defeated Al-Khor 2-1 on Saturday with Hernandez absent. Al-Sadd is presently in third place in the Qatar Stars League Table with 35 points. Al-Duhail is in first place with 43 points, and Al-Rayyan is in second place with 41 points.
There are have been 109,036 cases of coronavirus in Qatar with 3122 active cases. Of the 109.036 cases, there have been 164 deaths.
As a player, Hernandez scored 58 goals in 505 games for FC Barcelona in La Liga. He then went on to score 21 goals in 82 games with Al-Sadd from 2015 to 2019. While with FC Barcelona, Hernandez won eight La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League championships.
On the international side, Henandez represented his home country of Spain for 15 years from 2000 to 2014. In 133 games, he scored 13 goals. The most significant goal came in the semifinals of Euro 2008 in Vienna, Austria. Hernandez scored the game-winning goal in the 50th minute in a 3-0 win over Russia. Spain would go on to win Euro 2008 with a 1-0 win over Germany on a goal by Fernando Torres from Hernandez. Following Spain’s victory in Austria, Hernandez was named the Euro 2008 player of the tournament.
In addition to winning Euro 2008, Hernandez helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. At the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the final on a goal by Andres Iniesta in the 116th minute. However, Hernandez was highly praised for having a passing success rate in the tournament of 91% and being selected for the World Cup All-Star Team. Then at Euro 2012, Hernandez had two assists in the final as Spain trounced Italy 4-0 in Kiev, Ukraine.
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