The forgotten former PSV player who was still active at the World Cup for Portugal
1 min readFor Portugal too, the 2026 World Cup is about to begin. Cristiano Ronaldo is playing his sixth World Cup and may well be going for his last chance at the world title with the Portuguese team.
Ronaldo made his debut at the 2006 World Cup and since then has managed to score at least one goal at every World Cup. Apart from the 2014 World Cup, the Portuguese each time advanced from the group stage.
That tournament is, together with the 2002 World Cup, the only tournament this century in which Portugal failed to get beyond the group stage. During that tournament in Japan and South Korea, there was also a former PSV player that many supporters will have forgotten who was active on behalf of the Southern European country.
Despite big names like Luis Figo and Rui Costa, Portugal in Japan and South Korea disappointed. Despite a comfortable win over Poland (4-0), A Seleção das Quinas lost to the United States (3-2) and South Korea lost to Guus Hiddink (1-0).
At the 2002 World Cup, Abel Xavier was one of Portugal’s squad players. The defender only played in the last group match against South Korea as a substitute and remained on the bench for the other two matches. Xavier played in the 1998/1999 season for PSV, where under the leadership of Sir Bobby Robson on the last matchday a place in the Champions League preliminary round was secured after an impressive comeback away to FC Utrecht (2-3).
Xavier played in the 1998/1999 season for PSV, where under the leadership of Sir Bobby Robson, on the last matchday a ticket for the Champions League qualifying round was secured after an impressive comeback away at FC Utrecht (2-3). Xavier only managed nineteen league matches that season, in which the Portuguese scored twice.
After that season, the former defender left for Everton and then, in 2002, switched to city rival Liverpool FC. At the 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium, Portugal reached the semi-finals in which it played against France, and Xavier had an unfortunate role.
In extra time, at a score of 1-1, the Portuguese player had the ball hit his hand unintentionally following a shot by Sylvain Wiltord. Although the referee initially awarded a corner, the French were given a penalty on the touchline referee's indication, which was converted by star player Zinédine Zidane, and as a result France went through to the final and Portugal was eliminated.
In 2009, the former PSV player ended his football career and nowadays Xavier is no longer active in the football world. The Portuguese is remembered by many people from the football world for his bleached hair and bleached beard, which earned him the nickname Yeti.
Comments6
i remember Xavier at PSV more than i remember Portugal at that World Cup, honestly. Nineteen league matches and only 2 goals, but somehow he still managed to be part of the Portugal story and that comeback ticket vs Utrecht was peak stuff 🔥
Portugal 2002 met Figo en Rui Costa en dan toch verliezen van USA en Hiddink-Korea... echt schandalig inconsistent. En Xavier speelde alleen tegen Korea, snap je twijfel waarom hij weinig minuten kreeg.
Tbh die Yeti-bijnaam blijft lachen 😂 Maar die rol tegen Frankrijk op EK 2000... dat is echt pech, bal op je hand na die inzet van Wiltord en dan Zidane die meteen afmaakt.
Abel Xavier in 1998/1999 bij PSV, man dat is echt vergeten. 2-3 bij Utrecht voor Europees voetbal, dat blijft toch bizar. Ook nog maar 19 competitiewedstrijden, maar dan raak je wel twee keer.
That 2000 semi-final vs France still hurts. Getting the handball in extra time and then the penalty for Zidane... bruh, you can see how small margins decide whole tournaments.
Abel Xavier with that "Yeti" look is such a random blast from the past. Still funny how he only played that last group game in 2002 while sitting the other two on the bench.