Xavi and Spain will have to put some points on the board against Chile if they're to go on and make it four major tournament wins in a row. Whisper it quietly, but Spain could be the first team knocked out of the World Cup tonight. Before the devastating 5-1 defeat to Holland adidas Football sat down with Xavi to get his thoughts on previous achievements and the 2014 World Cup.
You’ve won Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 as part of the first side ever to win three major tournaments in a row. Are Spain still hungry?
Of course we are. Our will to win is incredibly strong. You can’t doubt the team spirit we had and the purpose we had when it came to winning any of those tournaments. We come to Brazil wanting to defend our title. To win four tournaments in a row would be really remarkable, and especially to win it in Brazil, on Brazilian soil. We want to win this one as much as our first title, as much as we wanted Euro 2008.
Winning this tournament would officially end any doubt about Spain being the best side in the history of the game, right?
We don’t go round saying things like that. If you start thinking about your legacy or anything like that you are getting distracted. Yes, we want to win it, yes we have got a chance, but you don’t do it arrogantly. We just focus on our first match, our match against Holland, and we build from there.
If you lose that first game against Holland, will you face an uphill task getting out of the group?
We lost the first game in 2010 and people wrote us off immediately, so it would be unwise if people did that again. The good thing about the groups is that you can lose a game and get through. But we want to win that match, because winning the group is important. Whoever comes second is probably going to get Brazil, and nobody wants that in the first round of knockout games.
Some people said Spain were a little dull winning the last World Cup, is it unfair to brand the side in that way?
We won a lot of games 1-0, but that is not correct at all, to say we were dull. We weren’t boring, the other teams we faced just set up very defensively, and we had to find gaps, where often there were no gaps. Holland went for penalties. Paraguay set up a great defence and just tried to win the game from free kicks. It’s hard to express yourself when you have big teams getting right on top of you, very difficult. I think we did our best and played well, we kept the ball well.
How does this Spain side keep the passes ticking over so well, is it something that has just become automatic?
It’s all about quick thinking. Look for space. That’s all I do as a player. Look around, look where my team mates are. I see a defender, I play it away from them. See space and pass into it. When you have Iniesta, Villa, players like this around you, your job is made much more easy. Off the ball, players are looking for space. There are so many options, I have lots of choices of passes, and that’s partly why I can make so many. This team works hard to make itself available for the ball.
Does it annoy you and your teammates that people think it is ‘easy’ for you to play this way?
It isn’t easy. It is so much hard work. We work on it again and again. We didn’t just go to South Africa and put our feet up, thinking the World Cup was ours. We trained very hard. We want to play the right way, a way that shows off technical ability over physical strength. We are only happy to win in the way we want to.
How do you look back on the 2010 final now?
A tough game, a hard game. Holland were so hard to break down, and they looked for that goal on the break. They almost got it through Arjen Robben, too. To win it, we had to keep to our system and just find a way through, and to do it was wonderful. It was as mentally exhausting as it was physically exhausting, just trying to find a way through their defence, because they were so pumped up. To do it, that was one of the greatest achievements of Spanish football, and a victory for our style.
Your Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi will be playing for Argentina. Is it unfair that people say he must win a World Cup to be called the greatest player of all time?
It is totally unfair. One player does not equal a team. Lionel is lucky that he plays in a good Argentina team, who have a chance of winning the World Cup, but what would we be saying about him if he was from a country that doesn’t have a good football team at all? Does that mean he can’t be the best player? Of course he is the best. He has been decisive in every game he has played for the last six or seven years. People demand so much from him but to demand he wins the World Cup is not right. He is just one man. But he has every chance of it, and I’m sure he will show his skills in Brazil. There’s no doubt about that.
You’ve been playing for Spain since 2002. How much has the Spain team changed during your 130 caps?
Well I made my debut eight years before I won anything, and trophies with Spain, which is easy to forget. That’s a long time, an international career for many players. We have always tried to play the right way, the passing way – it just took a while for it to start to be a winning formula. Now we have a successful system and we fit players into it, into the philosophy. Back then, we weren’t expected to win things, while in 2014, we are expected to win, and teams built their game plan around trying to stop us. But that it a great challenge. We relish it.
How does this team compare to the 2008 and 2012 European Champions and the 2010 World Cup winning side?
I think we have similar strengths, to all those teams. We have very many of the same players – myself, Iniesta, Fabregas, Pique, Busquets, Casillas, Ramos – who bring a lot of experience in winning to the team, who have been around for these other tournaments. But we have a constant supply of new blood, and some players like Juanfran and Negredo, who have started to come more into the team over the last four years. You need to keep it fresh, keep the pressure up on players like myself to perform our best, otherwise we will lose our places. There is no room for sentiment.
Your partner in midfield, Andres Iniesta, got the winner in the 2010 World Cup final. How much would you like to bag the winner yourself in the Maracana in 2014?
I wouldn’t say no, of course! That was an exceptional moment of joy for my friend, and he deserved it, very much. The moment he scored that goal, I couldn’t say that I would have been any happier if I had scored it myself. I was full of joy for him, for Spain. But I don’t score many, so if you offer me the chance to score a goal, one in the Maracana will do very well, thank you.
Is it possible to get bored of winning? Could winning your fourth trophy ever feel as good as winning the first one?
No, no, it is impossible to be bored of winning. I hate to lose, this Spanish side hates to lose, and I think every successful player does. Yes, the first one is very sweet, because you haven’t tasted victory before, but to be honest the victories just get better and better. I’d like to find out anyway, that is for sure!
adidas were talking to Xavi as part of their #allin or nothing campaign. Do you think Spain can still win the World Cup? Drop us a line in the comments.
