Abel Xavier

Abel Luís da Silva Costa Xavier (born 30 November 1972) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Xavier was a part of the Portugal squad which came third at the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland.

From his debut in 1993, Xavier played 20 games for the Portugal national team, and was selected in their squads for UEFA Euro 2000 and 2002 FIFA World Cup.

He later became a manager for several Portuguese clubs and the Mozambique national team.

Xavier debuted in the Portuguese top division with Estrela da Amadora.

His play there earned him a transfer to Lisbon club Benfica.

Xavier's full international debut for senior team came on 31 March 1993, away in Switzerland in qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

He helped Benfica win the Portuguese league in 1994, and a season after, he moved to Serie A side Bari.

This stint with the Italian club started a series of transfers across Europe: in 1996, Xavier was sent to Real Oviedo, then after two seasons he moved to PSV.

He played three more matches in the unsuccessful qualification campaign that year and did not play for Portugal again until 1998.

Xavier joined English Premier League club Everton in September 1999 on a £1.5 million transfer deal.

Xavier was selected for UEFA Euro 2000 and became one of the key figures in the competition, not only due to playing some of his best football but also due to a distinctly bleached-blonde hairstyle with a matching beard.

In the semi-final against France, he went from close to hero, as France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez blocked what looked a sure goal, to a villain, when he deflected a shot by David Trezeguet near the post in the dying seconds of golden goal extra time with his hand.

Zinedine Zidane scored the penalty and put France in the final.

Liverpool ended the 2001–02 FA Premier League season as runners-up to Arsenal.

He was sold to Everton's Merseyside rivals Liverpool on 30 January 2002 for £800,000.

He was signed to bolster Liverpool's defence following Markus Babbel's absence through illness.

Xavier scored on his Liverpool debut against Ipswich Town.

He also scored against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League.

Xavier started the first four league games of the 2002–03 FA Premier League season but later argued with Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and did not feature in any of the remaining games, though he did play in a League Cup tie against Ipswich in December.

On 29 January 2003, he was loaned to Turkish side Galatasaray for the remainder of the season, with an option of a permanent move in the summer.

Galatasaray did not take up the option to sign Xavier, who subsequently played for Hannover 96 (2003–04) and Roma in 2004–05.

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Xavier was without a club but at the end of August, he signed for Middlesbrough to replace Michael Reiziger after the Dutchman was sold to PSV.

Following the UEFA Cup tie against Skoda Xanthi on 29 September, Xavier was administered a drugs test and failed.

On 23 November 2005, he was found guilty of using the anabolic steroid methandrostenolone (also known as dianabol), and banned from professional football for 18 months.

He said that the substance came from anti-virus medicine that he had imported from the United States.

While other players had failed tests for recreational substances, Xavier became the first Premier League player to be found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs.

The suspension caused him to miss Middlesbrough's run to the 2006 UEFA Cup final.

Xavier remained employed by the club and unsuccessfully appealed the decision; in January 2006 he said that he would take UEFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Xavier's ban was shortened to 12 months in June 2006, making him eligible to play again from November 2006.

In the summer of 2006, he began training again with Middlesbrough, and on 8 November 2006, was offered a contract with the club for the remainder of the 2006–07 season.

He scored his first Boro goal on 20 January 2007 in a 5–1 win against Bolton Wanderers at the Riverside Stadium.

On 14 May 2007, it was announced that Xavier was to join the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS).

He played in his first game with the Galaxy on 17 June 2007 at home against Real Salt Lake, setting up fellow new signing Edson Buddle in a 3–2 win.

Xavier played for clubs in Portugal, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Turkey and Germany before retiring with the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2008.

He represented both Merseyside rivals Everton and Liverpool in the Premier League.

While at Middlesbrough he was the first Premier League player to test positive for performance-enhancing substances, and was banned for one year.

Xavier was waived by Los Angeles on 18 July 2008.

Later, in an interview to an online football site, Xavier criticised Galaxy manager Ruud Gullit and the league itself.

In December 2009, Xavier quit professional football.