Abel Xavier spent two and a half years at Everton without scoring a single goal. Ten days after crossing Stanley Park, he scored 16 minutes into his Liverpool debut.
It was that sort of career. The Portugal defender with the bleached hair and matching beard played only 21 games for the Reds, but he packed plenty into them: a debut goal at Portman Road, a header in a Champions League quarter-final and a spell in a side that went top of the league.
Few players have made the short trip from Goodison to Anfield. Fewer still have done it with quite so much style.
From Mozambique to Merseyside
Xavier was born in Nampula, Mozambique, and grew up in Portugal, where he started out at Estrela da Amadora before moving to Benfica.
From there he became one of football’s great travellers. Spells at Bari in Italy, Real Oviedo in Spain and PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands followed, before Everton brought him to England in 1999.
He was tall, versatile and usually found at right-back. He was also impossible to miss.
The hand of Brussels
That became clear to the whole of Europe in the summer of 2000.
Xavier was one of the stand-out figures at Euro 2000, and not only for his football. He turned up with his hair and beard dyed peroxide blond, and Portugal topped a group that included England.
They reached the semi-finals, where they met the world champions France in Brussels. The game went to golden-goal extra time, and deep into it, Sylvain Wiltord’s shot struck Xavier’s hand.
France were given a penalty. Zinedine Zidane scored it, and Portugal were out.
The Portuguese players protested furiously, and UEFA banned Xavier for nine months for his conduct towards the match officials. The punishment was subsequently reduced to six months.
Xavier maintained that the handball was accidental.
Crossing Stanley Park
Back at Goodison, goals were not part of his game. In fact, he never scored for Everton at all.
By January 2002 his contract was running down. He turned down a new deal at Everton, and Liverpool moved in.
With Markus Babbel missing through illness, Phil Thompson, in charge while Gérard Houllier was out of action, wanted an experienced defender who could play in the Champions League. Xavier signed on 30 January 2002.
He became only the third player in more than 60 years to move straight from Everton to Liverpool, following Dave Hickson in 1959 and Nick Barmby in 2000.
Sixteen minutes
His debut came at Ipswich on 9 February 2002. Ipswich had been in fine form, but Liverpool tore them apart.
Xavier, playing at right-back, opened the scoring after 16 minutes, his shot taking a deflection off Chris Makin on its way in. It counted all the same.
Emile Heskey scored twice, Michael Owen scored twice and Sami Hyypiä headed one. Liverpool won 6-0 and went top of the table.
Not bad for a man who had gone two and a half years without a goal on the other side of the park.
A night in Leverkusen
Xavier was a regular in the weeks that followed, and kept his place when Houllier returned to the dugout.
He played in the Champions League, including both games against Galatasaray, a club that would figure in his story again.
The biggest night came in the quarter-final. Liverpool had beaten Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 at Anfield, and in Germany Michael Ballack put the home side ahead.
Just before half-time, Danny Murphy swung in a corner and Xavier, unmarked, headed the equaliser.
Xavier’s goal put Liverpool back in front on aggregate. But Leverkusen hit back in the second half, and although Jari Litmanen’s brilliant goal put the Reds ahead on away goals, Lúcio struck late to win it 4-2 for the Germans.
Liverpool finished that season as runners-up in the Premier League.
That summer Xavier went to the World Cup with Portugal, making a substitute appearance against South Korea. He finished his international career with 20 caps.
Fading out
Xavier started the 2002-03 season in the side, playing in the Community Shield against Arsenal and the opening league games.
His first-team opportunities then became increasingly limited.
His last game for Liverpool came on 4 December 2002, a League Cup tie at Anfield against Ipswich, the same club he had scored against on his debut. Liverpool won on penalties and went on to lift the trophy that season.
In January 2003 he joined Galatasaray on loan. By the end of that season, Houllier had made it clear that he would not be coming back.
Rome, Teesside and Los Angeles
The travelling continued. Galatasaray did not take up their option to sign him, and Xavier moved on to Hannover 96 in Germany and then Roma, where he played three Serie A games.
In August 2005 he returned to England with Middlesbrough. After a UEFA Cup tie against Xanthi that September, he tested positive for an anabolic steroid and received an 18-month suspension.
His appeal to UEFA was unsuccessful, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport subsequently reduced the ban to 12 months. Middlesbrough, who had terminated his contract, re-signed him in November 2006.
His final stop was the United States, where he played for LA Galaxy in 2007 and 2008 alongside David Beckham. He announced his retirement in December 2009.
Back where it started
After football, Xavier converted to Islam and took the name Faisal.
He went into management in Portugal with Olhanense, Farense and Desportivo Aves. Then, in 2016, he was appointed coach of Mozambique, the country of his birth.
He spent around three and a half years in charge of the Mambas, and came close to taking them to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Once a Red
Twenty-one games and two goals. On paper, it is a modest Liverpool record.
But Abel Xavier was never a modest footballer. He arrived from across the park, scored almost before the ink was dry on his contract, and headed a goal in a Champions League quarter-final.
Not many players can say they wore both shirts on Merseyside. Even fewer can say they scored on their first day as a Red.
