Carlos Xavier

Carlos Jorge Marques Caldas Xavier (born 26 January 1962) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a midfielder.

Carlos Xavier
Personal information
Full name Carlos Jorge Marques Caldas Xavier
Date of birth (1962-01-26) 26 January 1962
Place of birth Lourenço Marques, Mozambique
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1976–1978 Casa Pia
1978–1980 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1991 Sporting CP 212 (8)
1986–1987 → Académica (loan) 26 (1)
1991–1994 Real Sociedad 96 (13)
1994–1996 Sporting CP 36 (6)
Total 370 (28)
National team
1980 Portugal U18 6 (0)
1981–1985 Portugal U21 16 (1)
1981–1993 Portugal 10 (0)
Teams managed
2004–2005 Estoril (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, Xavier began his professional career with Lisbon-based Sporting CP, already being a regular first-team fixture at age 19. He played 23 Primeira Liga games as the Lions won the title in the 1981–82 season, which would be the last until 2000.

In 1991, after more than 250 competitive appearances, Xavier moved, alongside compatriot and teammate Oceano, to Spain's Real Sociedad, where the pair was equally influential, having been reunited with former Sporting boss John Toshack at the La Liga side.[1][2]

Both Xavier and Oceano returned to Sporting in the summer of 1994, and the former played two more years before retiring at the age of 34. In the 2004–05 campaign he had a brief spell at coaching, assisting at another club from the capital and the top division, G.D. Estoril Praia.[3]

International career

Xavier won ten caps for Portugal, then switched successfully to its beach soccer team.[4]

Personal life

Xavier's twin brother, Pedro, was also a footballer. A forward, he represented several teams in the country (coinciding with Carlos at Académica) in an 18-year professional career.[5]

Xavier lived in Quinta da Beloura, a gated community in Sintra on the Portuguese Riviera.[3]

References
  1. "Toshack acusa de indisciplinados a los jugadores de la Real" [Toshack accuses Real players of indiscipline]. El País (in Spanish). 19 September 1992. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  2. "25 años, 71 extranjeros" [25 years, 71 foreigners]. Noticias de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish). 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  3. "Carlos Xavier: "O futebol desiludiu-me"" [Carlos Xavier: «Football let me down»] (in Portuguese). Sábado. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  4. "Portugal é campeão do mundo de futebol de praia" [Portugal are beach soccer world champions] (in Portuguese). Tribuna Portuguesa. July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  5. "Gémeos com carreiras lideradas pelo futebol" [Twins with careers led by football]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 22 September 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
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