{"id":63109,"date":"2025-10-18T19:52:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T19:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory"},"modified":"2025-10-18T20:19:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:19:33","slug":"xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory","title":{"rendered":"Xavi Backs Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Spain for World Cup Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span><b>Xavi praised Spain\u2019s strength ahead of the 2026 World Cup, expressing confidence in La Roja\u2019s chances of lifting the trophy. The former Barcelona captain highlighted the team\u2019s solid structure under Luis de la Fuente, combining experience and youthful energy.<\/b><br \/>\n<b>\u201cSpain has everything \u2014 talent, discipline, and a clear identity,\u201d<\/b> he said, emphasizing their attacking philosophy and collective experience. Xavi also underlined how Spain\u2019s game mirrors that of Barc\u0327a: a team that loves possession, presses high, and controls matches with intensity and precision.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about Ousmane Dembe\u0301le\u0301, the 2010 world champion didn\u2019t hide his admiration. <b>\u201cHe\u2019s an exceptional player; the Ballon d\u2019Or is deserved,\u201d<\/b> Xavi declared. He recalled how Dembe\u0301le\u0301 developed maturity and consistency, first at Barcelona and then at PSG, where he became \u201cthe star of the team.\u201d Xavi credited his former pupil\u2019s success to his hunger for improvement and the confidence he gained in Paris, where he helped the club conquer the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Xavi shared his excitement about Adidas\u2019 new ball, the Trionda, unveiled for the 2026 World Cup. Representing Mexico, the United States, and Canada, the ball symbolizes unity and innovation. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful and pleasant to the touch,\u201d he said. Remembering the Jabulani that accompanied Spain\u2019s 2010 triumph, Xavi expressed hope that the Trionda would carry the same magic for players and fans when football\u2019s greatest show kicks off next summer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Lesotho<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. Xavi praised Spain\u2019s strength ahead of the 2026 World Cup, expressing confidence in La Roja\u2019s chances of lifting the trophy. The former Barcelona captain highlighted the team\u2019s solid structure under Luis de la Fuente, combining experience and youthful energy. \u201cSpain has everything \u2014 talent, discipline, and a clear identity,\u201d he said, emphasizing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[245],"class_list":["post-63109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Xavi Backs Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Spain for World Cup Glory - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Xavi praised Spain\u2019s strength ahead of the 2026 World Cup, expressing confidence in La Roja\u2019s chances of lifting the ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Xavi Backs Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Spain for World Cup Glory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Xavi praised Spain\u2019s strength ahead of the 2026 World Cup, expressing confidence in La Roja\u2019s chances of lifting the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T19:52:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-18T20:19:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/10\/sm_1760806034.441973.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"479\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Xavi Backs Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Spain for World Cup Glory\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-18T19:52:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-18T20:19:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\"},\"wordCount\":256,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2025\/10\/sm_1760806034.441973.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/xavi-backs-dembele-and-spain-for-world-cup-glory\",\"name\":\"Xavi Backs Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 and Spain for World Cup Glory - 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