Xavier Margairaz
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Xavier Margairaz (born 7 January 1984) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Margairaz was born in Rances. After beginning professionally with FC Lausanne-Sport and Neuchâtel Xamax, he was part of the 2005–06 and 2006–07 Super League-winning teams of Fussballclub Zürich.
In May 2007, Margairaz signed a three-year contract with Spanish side CA Osasuna,[1] where he struggled with first-team opportunities. In late February 2008, in a friendly match with SD Eibar, he suffered a serious knee injury (anterior cruciate ligament, internal lateral ligament and external meniscus). After a successful surgery in Geneva, he missed UEFA Euro 2008 as his recovery process was estimated to be of at least eight months;[2] this happened a week after another serious knee-injured central midfielder of the Navarrese club, Javad Nekounam, began training.
On 14 January 2009, Margairaz moved back to FC Zürich on loan until the end of the season.[3] In June, after he helped the team to another league title and Osasuna received €400.000, the move was made permanent.
On 15 September 2009, Margairaz became Zürich's first scorer in the UEFA Champions League, netting in a 2–5 home loss against Real Madrid in the group stage.[4] In January 2012, he moved to FC Sion on a three-and-a-half-year contract, leaving in June of the following year.[5]
International career
A member of the Swiss national team since 2005, Margairaz was called up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he had two late substitute appearances.[6][7]
Personal life
Margairaz's older brother, Sascha, was also a footballer. He played mainly in the lower leagues and amateur football.[8][9]
Honours
Zürich
References
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- ↑ Duo boost Osasuna forward line; UEFA, 19 June 2007
- ↑ Margairaz se lesiona de gravedad y se perderá la Eurocopa (Margairaz suffers serious injury and he will miss the Eurocup); Marca, 27 February 2008 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Margairaz zurück im FC Zürich (Margairaz returns to Zürich); NZZ Online, 14 January 2009 (in German)
- ↑ Ronaldo has Madrid up and running; UEFA, 15 September 2009
- ↑ Xavier Margairaz va quitter Sion (Xavier Margairaz to quit Sion); Le Matin, 2 June 2013 (in French)
- ↑ France 0–0 Switzerland; BBC Sport, 13 June 2006
- ↑ Switzerland 2–0 South Korea; BBC Sport, 23 June 2006
- ↑ «Je suis devenu mature sur le tard» («I matured a bit late»); La Région, 10 September 2014 (in French)
- ↑ Xavier Margairaz ou la bataille contre l’oubli (Xavier Margairaz or the battle against oblivion); La Région, 5 November 2014 (in French)
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
- Pages with script errors
- 1984 births
- Living people
- People from Jura-North Vaudois District
- Swiss-French people
- Swiss men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Swiss Super League players
- Swiss Challenge League players
- FC Lausanne-Sport players
- Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players
- FC Zürich players
- FC Sion players
- Servette FC players
- La Liga players
- CA Osasuna players
- Switzerland men's international footballers
- 2006 FIFA World Cup players
- Swiss expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
- Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Footballers from the canton of Vaud
- 21st-century Swiss sportsmen