Xavier Chen

Xavier Chen (; born 5 October 1983) is a former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Born in Belgium, he played for the Chinese Taipei national team.

He began his youth career with 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 (2013–2015) before returning to KV Mechelen. Born in Belgium, Chen obtained Taiwanese citizenship in 2011 through naturalization and represents Chinese Taipei internationally.

Early life Chen was born on 5 October 1983 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, a municipality in the Brussels, to a French mother and a Taiwanese father. His paternal grandfather, a former diplomat, 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 when he accepted 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.

International career Chen's eligibility to play for Chinese Taipei was discovered by the CTFA public relations director Chen Chia-Ming in 2009

Chen made his international debut against 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.

Career statistics International + Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours Guizhou Renhe Chinese FA Cup: 2013 Chinese FA Super Cup: 2014