View source for Xavier Chen

{{short description|Belgian-born Taiwanese footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Xavier Chen
| image = Xavier Chen.jpg
| image_size = 
| fullname = Xavier Chen
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1983|10|5}}
| birth_place = [[Berchem-Sainte-Agathe]], [[Brussels]], Belgium
| height = 1.74 m
| position = [[Right back]]
| currentclub = 
| clubnumber = 
| youthyears1 = 1991–2003
| youthclubs1 = [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]]
| youthyears2 = 2003–2005
| youthclubs2 = [[KV Kortrijk]]
| years1 = 2005–2007
| clubs1 = [[KV Kortrijk]]
| caps1 = 38
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2007–2013
| clubs2 = [[KV Mechelen]]
| caps2 = 124
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2013–2015
| clubs3 = [[Guizhou Renhe F.C.|Guizhou Renhe]]
| caps3 = 75
| goals3 = 2
| years4 = 2016–2017
| clubs4 = [[KV Mechelen]]
| caps4 = 18
| goals4 = 0
| totalcaps = 255
| totalgoals = 2
| nationalyears1 = 2001–2002
| nationalteam1 = [[Belgium national under-19 football team|Belgium U19]]
| nationalcaps1 = 11
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2011–2017
| nationalteam2 = [[Chinese Taipei national football team|Chinese Taipei]]
| nationalcaps2 = 9
| nationalgoals2 = 3
}}

'''Xavier Chen''' ({{zh|t=陳昌源/夏維耶}}; born 5 October 1983) is a former professional [[association football|footballer]] who played as a [[right-back]]. He began his youth career with [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]] before moving to [[KV Kortrijk]] where he first played at senior level (2003–2007). After Kortrijk, he spent six years at [[KV Mechelen]] (2007–2013) and two at [[Guizhou Renhe F.C.|Guizhou Renhe]] (2013–2015) before returning to KV Mechelen. Born in Belgium, he represented [[Chinese Taipei national football team|Chinese Taipei]] at international level.

==Personal life==
Chen was born to a French mother and a Taiwanese father. His paternal grandfather is a former diplomat who still lives in Taiwan.

==Club career==
Chen started his senior career in [[KV Kortrijk]], but gained recognition in his first stint with [[KV Mechelen]], where he became captain. Due to the inconvenience of traveling back and forth between Belgium and Taiwan, Chen decided to move to Chinese side [[Guizhou Renhe F.C.|Guizhou Renhe]] when he accepted [[Chinese Taipei Football Association|CTFA]]'s invitation to play for the national team. In January 2016, Chen returned to KV Mechelen, stating that he only wanted to play for a maximum of three years in China. A few Chinese teams showed interest to sign him, but he ultimately decided to return to his country of birth. Altogether, Chen spent seven seasons with KV Mechelen.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190503235156/https://www.vice.com/nl/article/nexag8/kv-mechelen-icoon-xavier-chen-verkoopt-nu-streetfood KV Mechelen-icoon Xavier Chen verkoopt nu streetfood] vice.com</ref>

==International career==
Chen's eligibility to play for [[Chinese Taipei national football team|Chinese Taipei]] was discovered by the [[Chinese Taipei Football Association|CTFA]] public relations director Chen Chia-Ming in 2009<ref>{{cite news|url=http://taipeitimes.com/News/sport/print/2010/06/10/2003475070|title=Online game helps Taiwan unearth soccer talent|publisher=Taipei Times|date=10 June 2010|access-date=11 June 2011}}</ref> and Chen was invited to play for the national team. The [[Chinese Football Association]] of the mainland had also made an attempt to recruit Chen three months after the CTFA did. On 24 May 2011, encouraged by his relatives, Chen elected to play for Chinese Taipei.<ref>{{Cite news |script-title=zh:點頭代表中華男足－夏維耶身分證 拚最速件 |date=24 May 2011 |publisher=China Times |language=zh |url=http://news.chinatimes.com/domestic/11050606/112011052400229.html }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news|script-title=zh:世足賽披台灣戰袍 夏維耶還缺身分證|date=25 May 2011|publisher=Liberty Times|language=zh|url=http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2011/new/may/26/today-sp9.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530134718/http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2011/new/may/26/today-sp9.htm|archive-date=30 May 2011}}</ref>

Chen made his international debut against [[Malaysia national football team|Malaysia]] on 3 July 2011 and scored the winning goal. This marked the first time in 10 years that Chinese Taipei beat an opponent that was ranked in the FIFA top 150. The attendance of the game was a record breaking at 15,335, which was 10,000 higher than average. On 9 October 2015, Chen scored the third goal in a 5–1 victory over [[Macau national football team|Macau]].

===International goals===
:''Scores and results list Taiwan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chen goal.''<ref name="NFT">{{cite web|url=http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/43929/Xavier_Chen.html|title=Chen, Xavier|publisher=National Football Teams|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Xavier Chen
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| align="center"|1 || 3 July 2011 || [[Taipei Municipal Stadium]], [[Taipei]], Taiwan || {{fb|Malaysia}} || align="center"|3–2 || align="center"|3–2 || [[2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC first round|2014 FIFA World Cup qualification]]
|-
| align="center"|2 || 9 October 2015 || Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan || {{fb|Macau}} || align="center"|3–1 || align="center"|5–1 || [[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
|-
| align="center"|3 || 10 June 2017 || [[Jalan Besar Stadium]], [[Kallang]], Singapore || {{fb|SIN}} || align="center"|1–1 || align="center"|2–1 || [[2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round|2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification]]
|-
|}

==Honours==
'''Guizhou Renhe'''
* [[Chinese FA Cup]]: [[2013 Chinese FA Cup|2013]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sports.sina.com.cn/j/2013-12-07/17586922023.shtml|title=足协杯-人和总分3-2恒大队史首夺冠 恒大三冠梦碎|publisher=Sports.sina.com.cn|date=7 December 2013|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>
* [[Chinese FA Super Cup]]: [[2014 Chinese FA Super Cup|2014]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{NFT|43929<!-- /Xavier_Chen -->}}
* {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626101242/http://tokka.cc/column_info.aspx?CID=&Dt=&ID=28 |date=26 June 2010 |title=CTFA PR Director revealed his discovery on local football media (tokka.cc) }}
* {{Worldfootball.net|xavier-chen}}
* {{Soccerway|xavier-chen/13567}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Xavier}}
[[Category:1983 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Sint-Agatha-Berchem]]
[[Category:Taiwanese men's footballers]]
[[Category:Belgian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football fullbacks]]
[[Category:Chinese Taipei men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Belgium men's youth international footballers]]
[[Category:Belgian people of Taiwanese descent]]
[[Category:Belgian people of French descent]]
[[Category:Taiwanese people of French descent]]
[[Category:Belgian Pro League players]]
[[Category:Chinese Super League players]]
[[Category:K.V. Kortrijk players]]
[[Category:K.V. Mechelen players]]
[[Category:Beijing Chengfeng F.C. players]]
[[Category:Taiwanese expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Taiwanese expatriate sportspeople in China]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Belgian expatriate sportspeople in China]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in China]]
[[Category:Footballers from Brussels]]
[[Category:21st-century Belgian sportsmen]]