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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Thomas Bristow

Santi Cazorla's glittering career continues with another trophy under Barcelona legend Xavi

Santi Cazorla captained Qatari side Al-Sadd to a 2-0 win in the Qatar Cup final on Friday, lifting his third trophy at the club in less than a year.

The Spanish midfielder joined from Villarreal in July 2020, linking up with Barcelona legend Xavi - who is the club's manager.

It is yet another triumph in the former Arsenal star's career as he continues to show what he's capable of on the pitch.

It is actually Cazorla 's third trophy win since signing, having won the Qatari Stars Cup and Emir of Qatar Cup also.

His stats don't make for bad reading, either. Cazorla has scored 12 goals and registered 10 assists in just 19 appearances. A phenomenal return.

It's quite the comeback for Cazrola, who was plagued by knee, foot and ankle injuries towards the end of his Arsenal days.

The midfielder was out for more than 660 days with an Achilles tendon injury and feared a football comeback may not even be possible.

Cazorla had undergone 11 operations on the ankle and one even led to gangrene.

Cazorla is playing under Barcelona icon Xavi. (AFP via Getty Images)

His Achilles was eventually reconstructed with doctors taking a skin graft from his left arm - which featured a tattoo.

"They've put skin from my arm on my ankle, and from my thigh on my arm," Cazorla said upon making his recovery.

"So whenever I get asked what's happened to me, I end up saying it's like a little jigsaw, parts of my body all over the place."

Cazorla made his football comeback at Villarreal. (Domenech Castello/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Cazorla eventually made his football comeback, signing for his first senior side Villarreal.

And it didn't take him long to return to doing what he's best at. The midfielder went on to make 86 appearances, scoring 22 goals, for La Liga outfit before eventually going on to sign for Al-Sadd.

At 36, Cazorla is reaching the end of his career but he's got a lot of lost time to make up for. And with the goals he's scored and trophies his won already Cazorla has shown he's not wasting any time.

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