"I pass and I move, I help you, I look for you"

songofme:

You are nominated for the ‘Catalan of the year’ trophy. Wouldn’t it be strange to win that trophy thanks to shining in the shirt of Spain?
Well, excuse me (sass alert), but I think that would only make it more beautiful, no? I think that there cannot be more diversity than that. I’m feeling Catalan through and through but, at this moment, I don’t know any other way to win the European championships than by playing for Spain.

What is that so much talked about Barça DNA that everyone is envious of?
If you want to enjoy football, you have to love the ball. You can win by not liking the ball, true, but then you forget to enjoy, you and the others. ‘With what do we defend?’, Cruijff asked himself. ‘With the ball’, he answered. If you have the ball, you can play like you want to play. The one who has the ball, is the master of the game.

And once you have it, once it’s yours, you can pass, pass, pass.
Yes, but with a plan. Quick passes, using the space, triangles, double passes, depth, pausing, rhythm, I pass and I move, I help you, I look for you, I stop, I raise my head, I look and, above all, I open up the pitch. Cruijff always said: ‘If you put Pele and Maradona in a phone booth, you don’t have to worry because they won’t even make a double pass’. If you make the pitch wide, even the most clumsy one can make a double pass, or two. That’s the school of Joan Vilà, of Albert Benaiges, of Johan Cruijff, of Pep Guardiola.

And you love the ball, you’re dying to have it, for it to come your way. 
On Saturday, I sometimes go and watch my friends of Natació Terrassa and I sit in the stands with Elsa, my girlfriend. From my seat, I’m hoping the ball will bounce an come my way. I’m a fanatic, I admit it. I don’t know if I should be punished for that sin.

Is it true that your sister Ariadna has dribbled you a lot during your youth?
True, true. We have almost the same age and we played together. She has the left foot of Messi. I always picked her for my team and the others always laughed with me. ‘How can you pick her, that’s a girl!’, they said, but we trashed them several times…(girl power moment)

Elsa, your girlfriend, has asked me to tell you that not everything is football, football.
Elsa is the one who keeps my feet on the ground, who keeps me connected with the reality, she opens my mind, she helps me to see that not everything is football. She’s my sweetheart. And she knows it.

Bits & pieces from a 2009 interview, so it’s a bit dated. But I love it.

“She’s my sweetheart. And she knows it.”

OKAY WHY DON’T YOU JUST KILL ME NOW. DAMMIT XAVI! GET A GIRL & MARRY & HAVE A BUNCH OF FEISTY LITTLE XAVI BABIES ROAMING AROUND.