Xavi eager to catch up with former Barca mates

Al Sadd captain Xavi just can’t wait to catch up with his former Barcelona teammates when the top Spanish side visit Qatar for a friendly against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli on December 13.
Xavi, who scored Al Sadd’s winning goal against Al Khor in the Qatar Stars League on Friday, could hardly contain his excitement when he talked to www.sc.qa in an exclusive interview.
“To all of my former team-mates in Barcelona, it is a great pleasure to be able to welcome you here in Qatar. I am here as an ambassador of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and it’s a great opportunity for the people of Qatar to see Barcelona. I hope we see a great game against Al Ahli, especially those who come to the stadium and those who watch on television,” the former Barcelona and Spain legend said.
“It’s a magic opportunity to see Barcelona live in the Middle East. I am in touch with the players a lot, but it’s a great opportunity to see them in person again, to go to the hotel and be with them at the stadium too. It will be a great opportunity to see how Qatar celebrates football ahead of 2022. It will be a full stadium, a spectacular game of football, because here they really love Barca.”  Xavi continues to closely follow global football and also praised his former coach Pep Guardiola for the way he has imposed his style in England.
“Guardiola is doing a great job in England, we’ve seen some fantastic games by Manchester City, I think they played very well against Barcelona in Camp Nou until the sending off of Bravo, and in Manchester as well. I have seen some of the games they have played in the league, and you can that Guardiola is imposing his style on Manchester City.
“The ‘problem’ of the Premier League is that everything is very close, there are 5 or 6 teams with chances to win the title. Chelsea is strong, Liverpool is strong, Spurs lost the other day but they are there, Manchester didn’t start very well, but I’m sure they’ll get better and be up there. They are teams that could win the league. There is more competition in England than in other leagues, but I see Guardiola doing very well and he’ll do a great job there.”  
Xavi also expressed admiration for the work being done by Chelsea coach Antonio Conte.
“Conte is a coach who works very well. We’ve seen it with Spain when we lost to Italy, and the great work he’s done with Juventus. He can adapt his team having the ball but also without it, he is very well prepared.”
Xavi will play in ‘Qatar’s version of El Clasico’, as he calls it, next week when his Al Sadd team take on last year’s Qatar Stars League champions Al Rayyan. And he believes that as Qatar prepares for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the country is creating a new generation of talented players.  
“There is a good team in Qatar, with talented players. There are players in the Under 23 and Under 19 teams who can be very important in 2022. There are coaches in Aspire and the QFA such as Felix Sanchez who are very important, and I am working in coaching with the Under 23 team and enjoying it. There are great players and six years to go until 2022. Those in the current National Team and the youth teams will be a great combination to compete in the home World Cup. The organization for the World Cup is going well, and in terms of football development we have time to work with these players, so there is the basis is there to have a great tournament.” (www.sc.qa)

“It’s a magic opportunity
to see Barcelona live in the
Middle East. I am in touch with the players a lot, but it’s a great
opportunity to see them in
person again”