Xavi is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Qatari club Al Sadd SC. Xavi came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at the age of 11 and made his first-team debut against Mallorca in August 1998. Since then he has played 700 matches, scored 82 goals and made more than 180 assists for over 50 players. Xavi is the first player in Barcelona's history to play 150 international matches. Highly regarded for his humble persona and team ethos, Xavi is viewed as being the embodiment of the tiki-taka passing style of play, and is considered to be one of the greatest central midfielders of all time. He is also considered by many in the game to be the greatest Spanish player ever.