Daddy Cool: Xabi Alonso's Suavest Moments

Posted Sunday, May 21, 2017 by Marca.com

Spain's finest midfielder/fashion icon Xabi Alonso smoulderingly good looking career has come to an end and we couldn't be more upset about it.

OK, on the one hand, perhaps having his weekday afternoons and weekends free will allow the brilliant Basque bastard to finally get to work as a freelance features writer for Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, start a blog devoted to ranking each of Wes Anderson's films or even designing a capsule collection for H&M. But let's be honest, no longer being to able to enjoy Alonso placing sixty yard passes onto a sixpence or casually knocking free kicks in top bins is going to be harder to get over than the ex who was a million miles out of your league and is now posting Instagram pictures of herself on a yacht with her wadded new fiance. Or the end of The Sopranos.

For every reason Alonso gave us to idolise him on the pitch, he gave us about a dozen to love him off it, too. When he wasn't controlling the midfield for Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Spain he was knocking the shit out of a shoot for any number of high brow fashion and lifestyle magazines, discussing his favourite Netflix series, paying tribute to the likes of Leonard Cohen, Johan Cruyff, James Gandolfini, Robin Williams and Lou Reed and, more pertinently, throwing his support behind humanitarian efforts and the Hillsbrough Justice Campaign.

It's rare for a footballer to be so universally appreciated. Rival fans even found it difficulty to pick fault with Alonso. In fact, as a Manchester United fan, even I winced when Paul Scholes hurled a wayward right hook Alonso's way during a fixture at Anfield in 2007 and it wasn't because I was worried about Scholes' impending red card. Yet that's the effect Xabi Alonso has on you, you can't even begrudge the bloke success at your own expense.

With his last lacing of the boots approaching, we thought it'd be best to remember the Spanish maestro's coolest moments over the course of his monumental career.

Daddy Cool: Xabi Alonso's Suavest Moments