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Xabi Alonso

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Xabi Alonso

Xabi Alonso with Bayern Munich in August 2014.
Personal information
Full name	Xabier Alonso Olano[1]
Date of birth	25 November 1981 (age 34)
Place of birth	Tolosa, Spain
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Bayern Munich
Number	14
Youth career
	Antiguoko
	Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2000	Real Sociedad B	39	(2)
2000–2004	Real Sociedad	114	(9)
2000–2001	→ Eibar (loan)	14	(0)
2004–2009	Liverpool	143	(15)
2009–2014	Real Madrid	158	(4)
2014–	Bayern Munich	62	(4)
National team‡
2000	Spain U18	1	(0)
2002–2003	Spain U21	9	(0)
2003–2014	Spain	114	(16)
2001–2012	Basque Country	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:14, 20 November 2016 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 June 2014

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Alonso and the second or maternal family name is Olano.

Xabier "Xabi" Alonso Olano (Basque: [ˈʃaβi aˈlons̺o oˈlano], Spanish: [ˈ(t)ʃaβj aˈlonso oˈlano]; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish footballer who plays for German club Bayern Munich as a central midfielder.
Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his home province Gipuzkoa. After a brief loan period at Eibar, he returned to Sociedad where then-manager John Toshack appointed Alonso as his team captain. Alonso succeeded in the role, taking Real Sociedad to second place in the 2002–03 season. He moved to Liverpool in August 2004 for £10.5 million. He won the UEFA Champions League in his first season at the club, under manager Rafael Benítez, scoring the equalising goal in the Final against Milan. The following season, he won the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield. He moved to Real Madrid for the start of the 2009–10 season in a deal worth around £30 million. After five seasons at the club, winning honours including a league title in 2012 and the Champions League in 2014, he was signed by German Bundesliga club Bayern Munich on a two-year contract.
He made his international debut for Spain in April 2003 in a 4–0 victory against Ecuador. While playing for Spain, Alonso has won Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and the 2010 World Cup, and he has also represented his country at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. On 23 June 2012, Alonso won his 100th cap for Spain in the quarter-final of Euro 2012 against France; he celebrated the occasion by scoring both of Spain's goals to send them into the semi-finals. Following Spain's failure to progress out of the group stages at the 2014 World Cup, Alonso retired from international football on 27 August 2014. His 114 caps make him the fifth-most capped player in the nation's history.