ABEL XAVIER

(from la.galaxy.mlsnet)

No, he's not Neptune's illegitimate half brother, nor is this MArio Van Peebles on the set of his latest movie. This is Abel Xavier a much travelled but talented central defender who's represented a variety of teams in Europe and was formerly an international for Portugal.

Born in Mozambique, he moved ot Portgual at an early age and represented them athe U-17 Youth World Cup. He started his professional career with Estrela Amadora and his performances there earned him a move to Benfica. From there he had stops in Italy (AS Bari, Roma) Spain (Real Oviedo) England (Everton, Liverpool, Middlesbrough), Turkey (Galatasary) and Germany (Hannover 96).

Xavier is no stranger to controversy. He had a well documented meltdown after conceding the penalty that gave France a spot in the Euro2000 final and proceeded to chase the match officials back to their dressing rooms. He also was banned for 18 months (reduced to 12) for postive anabolic steroid test.

However while on the field has produced the goods more often than not and as LA seeks to integrate younger players into itls lineup, Xavier's experience in the back, especially after the trade of Tyrone Marshall will heavily counted on.

PHOTOS

---

Xavier advancing the ball against Real Salt Lake (yahoo)

---

Back to the Galaxy page

---

Free Website Templates