'I want to be a coach and manage Barça'

"The idea is to start as a coach in Qatar, there is not so much pressure, to prove myself and to gain experience, and the goal is to return to Europe and mainly to Barca," explained Xavi, hours before his last game as a player.

One of the world's best midfielders, Xavi is retiring as a player after today's duel between Al Sadd and Iran's Persepolis in the Asian Cup, a tournament in which his team has already qualified for the Round of 16.

Despite the decisive day ahead, Xavi said he is "fine", it feels "natural" and intends to "enjoy those last 90 minutes.

"I've had a very long career, I'm calm and apart from that I already have the objective of being a coach. I imagine that having a goal when you finish on such a wonderful stage also makes everything easier," said the 39-year-old.

Xavi admitted that he did not imagine as a child to win so many titles, both with Barcelona and the Spanish national team, and that he remains "with the personal and professional recognition of all people.

He also had a huge farewell when he left Barcelona after winning the League, the Cup and the Champions League, and sees his retirement today as something "more familiar".

"I feel like a farewell to football, but I've already done everything, I have the feeling that football has given me everything and I'm super grateful," he said.

Now, his project is to be coach with Al Sadd, which will be official soon, and says that he is already preparing the organization chart, calendar and friendly matches.

"My dream is to be a coach, to pass on my experiences (...) I have many concepts of football in my head and I would like to pass them on", stressed Xavi, who is relaxed and happy with this new stage.

Asked about his idols, he said to have "many", since he has had "very good coaches", from Luis Aragonés to Pep Guardiola, passing through Luis Enrique and Louis van Gaal, among others.

"The two that have marked me the most have been Luis Aragones in the Selection and Guardiola, in Barça," said the former captain of Barcelona, who also said that "at this time the best coach in the world is Pep Guardiola.

According to Xavi, football "can be played in a thousand ways" but has always liked the style of Barcelona because it is "an attractive football, domination of the game, possession of the ball.

"It's what I want to convey. I grew up like this, I enjoyed this style, we won with this style, Barça and selection and, therefore, I think it's the best style to play football," he said.

On the rumours that he would return to Barcelona as coach, Xavi explained that he still does not feel ready for it.

"I now start a race from scratch, I can not catch a Ferrari or a transatlantic, I have to start with a small boat, with a small car, go testing, take experience and yes, it is true that the goal is to return to Barcelona, but slowly," he said with sincere humility.

His head is already full of future plans, but does not forget his last game as a player, tonight at the Azadi stadium in Tehran, which however "there is little at stake" to be the Persepolis already eliminated.

"I didn't expect to be in Iran, of course. If you tell me four or five years ago I would have thought it couldn't be," said the player, before stressing that the footballing atmosphere is "formidable" in the Persian country.

In his previous visits they have chanted his name, he has always noticed "a lot of affection" and the fans have gone to wait for him even at the airport, which was "a surprise".

"The first time I didn't expect it, the team didn't have security and at the airport it was chaos, I had to get into a police car because people were practically throwing themselves at me," he recalled with laughter.

However, he is serious about the fact that, despite this passion for football, women cannot enter stadiums in the Islamic Republic.

"This has to be changed absolutely. There is a lot of taboo on the subject of women in this area and we cannot have these differences between men and women in society," he lamented.

In his opinion, this ban should not be present in 2019, so he advocated that we all advocate for these things to change.