Xavi on coaching Barca and “extraordinary” Qatar World Cup

Since joining Al-Sadd SC, Xavi has combined playing duties at Qatar’s most successful club with an ambassadorial role within the 2022 World Cup committee and he explains to CNN how he hopes to continue this work whilst moving into a coaching career.

Known predominantly for his 17-year playing career at FC Barcelona, Xavi tells CNN’s Becky Anderson how one of his dreams is to coach the Catalan side himself.

In the interview, shared exclusively with Sport360 in the region, Xavi also states that he believes the World Cup in Qatar will be a hit.

“I want to be a football manager, but it’s a long way away… One of my dreams in the future is to coach FC Barcelona,” says Xavi in the video you can watch above.

“[In Qatar] they love football. They love football a lot, a lot, a lot. Football is just one of their passions. They love sport in general. Qatar is investing a lot in sport, they have the World Cup in 2022, in just under six years’ time.

“It’s a very clear objective, they want it to be good, they want to be competitive, and that’s why we’re here.

“The objective here is to compete at the 2022 World Cup, I’m here to help be more competitive and try to do the best we can. I’m sure that it will be an extraordinary World Cup. Because the country is relatively small, players won’t have to travel far and fans will be able to see many games in one day.”