Xavier Chen

Xavier Chen
Personal information
Full name Xavier Chen
Date of birth (1983-10-05) 5 October 1983
Place of birth Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current team
 KV Mechelen
Number 14
Youth career
1991–2003 Anderlecht
2003–2005 KV Kortrijk
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 KV Kortrijk 38 (0)
2007–2013 KV Mechelen 124 (0)
2013–2015 Guizhou Renhe 75 (2)
2016– KV Mechelen 3 (0)
National team‡
2001–2002 Belgium U19 11 (0)
2011– Chinese Taipei 7 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 March 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 October 2015 (UTC)

Xavier Chen (Chinese: 陳昌源/夏維耶, born 5 October 1983) is a Belgian-born Taiwanese footballer who plays predominantly as a right back. He currently plays for KV Mechelen in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight in Belgium. He has previously played for Anderlecht (1991–2003), KV Kortrijk (2003–2007), and Guizhou Renhe (2012–2016) and captained the Belgium U19 team.

Early years

Chen was born to a Taiwanese father and a French mother. His paternal grandfather is a former diplomat who still lives in Taiwan. He completed his master's degree in Law at Université libre de Bruxelles, making him the only active European first division football player in the modern era to have obtained such a degree.

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 when he accepted CTFA's invitation. 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. However, Chen continued to feature for his national team.

International career

Chen's eligibility to play for Taiwan was discovered by the Chinese Taipei Football Association public relations director Chen Chia Ming in 2009,[1] and Chen was invited to play for the national team. China Football Association had also made an attempt to recruit Chen three months after CTFA. On 24 May 2011, encouraged by his relatives in Taiwan, Chen elected to play for Taiwan.[2][3]

Chen made his international debut against Malaysia on 3 July 2011 and scored the winning goal. This made it the first time in 10 years that Taiwan 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 the average. On 9 October 2015, Chen scored CTFA's third goal in a 5–1 victory over Macau.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 3 July 2011 Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan  Malaysia 3–2 3–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying
2. 9 October 2015 Taipei Municipal Stadium, Taipei, Taiwan  Macau 3–1 5–1 Friendly

Honours

Club

Guizhou Renhe

References

  1. ↑ "Online game helps Taiwan unearth soccer talent". Taipei Times. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  2. ↑ 點頭代表中華男足－夏維耶身分證 拚最速件 (in Chinese). China Times. 24 May 2011.
  3. ↑ 世足賽披台灣戰袍 夏維耶還缺身分證 (in Chinese). Liberty Times. 25 May 2011.
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