JOE’s Forgotten Footballers: Abel Xavier

Abel Xavier, or Faisal Xavier as he has called himself since converting to Islam, was every bit as colourful on the pitch as his appearance suggested and is one of a few players to play for both Merseyside teams.

If ever a player could be described as a character, it is surely the Portuguese defender. Aside from his outlandish appearance – not surprisingly his fashion style of bleaching his facial hair never caught on – he played in seven countries, had acrimonious fall-outs and served one of the lengthiest international bans in recent history. And another for a failed drugs test. Welcome to the wonderful world of Abel Xavier. Born in Mozambique, Xavier spent his childhood in Portugal, where his talent soon became obvious at underage level. After winning the Portuguese title with Benfica in 1994, he then moved to Bari, which was the start of his nomadic footballing career. His solitary season with Bari was underwhelming to say the least and he spent two years with Real Oviedo and a season with PSV before joining Everton in 1999 for £1.5 million. He quickly won over the Goodison faithful with his all-action displays, though the appearance may have also played a part. That rare gift of looking crazy even when happy His international career was also on an upward trajectory. After making his debut in 1993, he went five years without a further appearance for Portugal after the unsuccessful USA '94 campaign, but by the time Euro 2000 rolled around he was an integral part of that outstanding side which featured the likes of Baia, Couto, Sousa, Figo, Joao Pinto, Rui Costa, Sergio Coceicao, Pauleta and Nuno Gomes. And it was, of course, where he shot to fame on an international front. After emerging from England’s group, Portugal met France in the semi-final, and Xavier was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet when Fabien Barthez made an outstanding save. In the dying seconds of golden goal extra time, he handled a Sylvain Wiltord shot, with Zinedine Zidane dispatching the resulting penalty. Xavier, like some of his team-mates went berserk and he was to be hit with a six-month international ban for his remonstrations, reduced from an original ban of nine months. Not a happy camper after the dramatic defeat to France In January 2002, Xavier became just the fourth player in history to leave the Toffees for Liverpool in a £800,000 deal with Markus Babbel side-lined through injury. Again, he quickly endeared himself to supporters that may have needed convincing after his move, scoring on his debut against Ipswich after 16 minutes. Under acting manager Phil Thompson, the Portuguese defender was a mainstay in the team, and held his place when Gerard Houllier eventually returned to the dugout. After playing the opening games of the 2002/03 season, he somehow fell out of the first-team picture and rumours of conflict with Houllier were surfacing. Galatasaray took him on loan for the remainder of the season with a view to a permanent deal, a move that never materialised. His Liverpool career ended with just 21 appearances and turned out for Hannover 96 and Roma before making a return to the Premier League in 2005 with Middlesbrough. His career there got off to the worst possible start after he failed a drugs test following the UEFA Cup tie against Skoda Xanthi. Although he denied any intentional wrongdoing, the tribunal banned him from professional football for a period of 18 months for use of anabolic steroids, meaning he missed the club’s run to the UEFA Cup Final that season. The ban was reduced to 12 months - sure he was well used to suspensions at this point – and he made 20 appearances before getting itchy feet and moving to the States and pitching up for the LA Galaxy. There he clashed with Ruud Gullit, so like many clubs before, one season was his lot, though at this point he decided to call time on his career. Soon after retirement he turned to Islam and more recently, he retired as the boss of Portuguese club Olhanense, despite only being installed in July of this year. His entire career has followed a similar pattern. Never the most talented or dedicated player to ever grace the Premier League, Abel Xavier will still be remembered as one of the most distinguishable footballers to ever play in the English top-flight.