Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Messi is the best in the world. Cristiano is a goalscorer. Messi is more taltented, more complete, tactically and footballwise. Cristiano isn't doing those runs anymore like at United. Messi takes more part in the game, I'd always prefer him in my team.
In football I enjoyed competing and wanted to be the best. That was also part of it. There were quite a few factors. I loved the game, it was a great way to socialize and I liked playing against girls because it meant competing on a level playing field.
I loved [Real Madrid]. It was a real experience, playing with a great team. One of the first questions I'm often asked is 'What was Madrid like?' It's got that mystique about it. It's a magical place and a magical team, and everything about it is great.
It's a dream of any player to win the bdo. I came really close to it and I'm very proud of my work, for being one of the 3 bests in the world, for the people who are working with me and that are helping me and supporting me. I hope someday I can win it.
I'll tell you what my real dream is. I mean my absolute number one dream that will mean I die a happy man if it happens. I want to see a UFO. They're real. I don't care if you look at me like that. UFO's are a definite fact and I've got to see one soon.
I thrive on quick players getting to the byline and sending over crosses. I just have to be quick enough to get on the end of things. In that regard, my job has always been the same, but if we have more wide, quick players, that can only be good for me.
We already know what Leo is capable of and it's a pleasure to see him on a daily basis. The level of effectiveness he has in training and matches is tremendous. He is fundamental in free-kicks, in open play, that's why he's the best player in the world.
Yes, obviously goalkeepers do the same training sessions and know about things - they are the only ones who can speak about being a goalkeeper because they have done the job and experienced it and know what it is like to make an error and be criticised.
And I remember how proud I was to put on my training jersey and go out on the field. Making it back to that environment was for me my greatest moment, because somebody had told me I couldn't do it and I never gave up on myself, the game and my teammates.
Barcelona focus a lot on what Barcelona does and not on what others are going to do. It creates a different way of working. Of course we studied our opponents to see their weak points and their strong points, but 70 per cent of the time, it was about us.
People look at my tattoos, and the majority of them are religious images, so people think, 'Oh, he must be very religious'. I respect all religions, but I'm not a deeply religious person. But I try and live life in the right way, respecting other people.
When I played against Chelsea, there was always a big motivation because it was a special game; it was always one of the biggest games of the season. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to join Chelsea: because I want to be part of this kind of team.
I would have been about seven years old when the formative years of my competitive football education began. I was playing in the local leagues around Manchester, playing against lads from tough areas who had been taught they had to fight for everything.
I always said that Messi has some talent that no one has. I mean, he has the ball and his speed controlling the ball. The ball doesn't go two metres far from his foot; it's always there. It's impossible to catch him. This talent I didn't see from anyone.
It was Osgood-Schlatters. It wasn't good. It's a growing pains thing, and I had to have a lot of treatment on it. I just shot up immediately and didn't have any kind of physique to deal with it physically. I was tall, all arms and legs, and a bit gangly.
New England has two factors to get them ready to play. They've consistently been, if not the best, the second best team all year and they're playing confidently. And a lot of those guys were on field when they lost to LA. They'll take motivation in that.
Being a winger or a wide mid, I have to run continuously for 90 minutes, which not only takes endurance but also strength in my legs to be able to be explosive for 90 minutes. I think weight training has really allowed me to sustain for those 90 minutes.
Putting yourself out there is hard, but it's so worth it. I don't think anyone who has ever spoken out, or stood up or had a brave moment, has regretted it. It's empowering and confidence-building and inspiring. Not only to other people, but to yourself.
I think I worked out in my head it's something like 75 training sessions before you've got them pretty well drilled. You're not going to get that in international football so you're relying on their intelligence and the ability of the players to slot in.
Money is not everything. My ambition was football itself, not the money I'd make from it. If that brings me and my family a more comfortable lifestyle, then that's fine. But I don't spend my time between games and training sessions thinking about figures.
My wish would be to continue playing for Manchester United. I have no personal problems with Jos Mourinho. One thing is for sure: I'm not going to stop playing football. I still believe in my own ability. I could still help Man United if given the chance.
When I started with the national team, it was made very clear I was going to be the backup to Christie Rampone and Rachel Buehler. So for the first few years, it was just me training my heart out and pushing those centerbacks to be the best they could be.
If I was playing for a club in mid-table, I could make three or four mistakes, and no one would notice because the analysis is not at the top level. But when you play for a big club, every little mistake is highlighted. So every day, you work, work, work.
During a game, it comes down to your mind - the pressure. There are loads of other aspects, too. Many people say taking penalties is easy, but when you're stood over one, that's not the case. It's in no way easy. The goal really does become a lot smaller.
We live in a multi-cultural society far more open to international ideas. If you'd told me 20 years ago I'd drive through Bury and see someone sitting outside a cafe drinking a latte, I'd have laughed. In fact, I wouldn't have even known what a latte was.
It changes everything, absolutely everything. The love you feel for your child transforms everything. Now you have someone helpless and tiny that depends on you and only you. You look at him and know that your world is focused on him, on that part of you.
There are different pressures when you come to a club like Liverpool. You have to perform well each week, or people start to question you, and I discovered that as soon as I got here. It was a difficult time, but I hope I got stronger from coping with it.
No-one gets an iron-clad guarantee of success. Certainly, factors like opportunity, luck and timing are important. But the backbone of success is usually found in old-fashioned, basic concepts like hard work, determination, good planning and perseverance.
I try not to have nerves. You have to be cold-blooded. You have to think, to look at the goalkeeper: how is he positioned? You study them, you know about them, even if there isn't always time, even if it's sometimes intuition. You look to see where he is.
Another reason why I am always close to the people, because the communication is very important. When I stopped to play soccer I continued to... I continued to work with UNICEF. I did a lot of work with UNESCO. We did a lot of charity programme and games.
My best has to be for Barcelona against Villarreal in 2006 - that is the one I am asked most about, and it is the one I am most proud of. Xavi chipped the ball to me, I chested it down, twisted and hit an overhead kick. It was the final goal in a 4-0 win.
If you look at Barcelona and the way they press high, or Bayern Munich, the way they press high... that's what makes them the best teams, because when they lose the ball, in the first three seconds, that's when they get the ball back, really, really high.
As wealthy as you are, nothing, nothing, nothing guarantees you that through a breakdown of relationship, your kids won't end up on the streets. It's nothing to do with wealth: sometimes it can be down to other things, like the breakdown of relationships.
Ah, paths of the soul, mysterious ways of the heart! One must walk their full lengths before facing the supreme equation of Eternal Life. It is essential for you to live all their conflicts and to know them fully in the long process of spiritual ascension.
Soccer, more often than not, helps to unite the world. What this Muslim ban is doing is dividing it: separating 'Us' and 'Them' to another degree, adding more division to a country that already struggles with race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender.
So along with that is spending a lot of time with the ball. For me it was, I loved to juggle the ball in my front yard, and I always challenged myself - how many juggles can I get today? I think for players to get better, it's just about spending the time.
I hear good things about Xbox Live from some of my younger teammates. I think it would be fun to be able to challenge fans all over the world. It would be cool to be able to play some of my friends back home in the States. I'm looking forward to trying it.
I've always been clear - I feel good at Chelsea. Every week, I repeat the same on PSG. It's a big team but an inferior league. I don't want to return to France, because I've won everything over there - the league title, cup, best player, best young player.
Lubo Penev is a fighter, he never gives up and remains cool during tough moments. I remember when he was sick with cancer, but fought and returned to football. Most people would have given up and prayed to God for mercy. (on former teammate Luboslav Penev)
Christ, he was paranoid about criticism. I used to say: why doesn't he worry about the team and forget what people are saying? He got Phil Thompson, who was a kid coming through when I was a Liverpool player, to have a go at me. So now I don't talk to him.
The Messi of the early years was a phenomenon, but he always wanted to finish off the move. Now he goes past one, two, or three players and is happy to give an assist to a team-mate - it makes him more dangerous and more difficult to stop than ever before.
People had their image of what a cowboy was, ... A lot of it was perpetuated by the media presentations of the cowboys in fiction and old Westerns. And because of the tenure of the times, African-Americans were left out. As a result, reality was distorted.
Felix Magath works with pressure. At first, we didn't know where we stood with him. That prompted the players to give their best because they wanted to play, but after a while the players knew where they stood and Magath no longer received the same effect.
I had a great career, to go from a small town in Switzerland to play for the Italian national team was a dream come true. So was playing for Lazio and Chelsea, winning trophies. When I look back I am very grateful for what I had, rather than what I missed.
Sometimes, the fact that you're a footballer makes you think that racism can't happen to you because you bring that passion and you express a lot of things. When it happened to me, I couldn't believe it, and in that moment, I decided to walk off the pitch.
When I read or study, I don't do it for the degree - if I fail, it doesn't matter, but it just takes me out of this world where you're the centre of attention all the time. You just become a normal bloke when you're setting yourself those kinds of targets.
It's always really challenging trying to go from player to player/coach. You have a kind of friendship basis of relationship with all of your teammates and now you go to this power position where you have to make decisions that might hurt people's feelings.
When you're at the highest point of your career at the highest level in your sport, any moment that you have these setbacks and injuries is devastating. You have to start back from zero, and you never know if you're going to get back to where you once were.
When you're seventeen or eighteen, you bomb on in pre-season immediately, try to impress. But then at the end of pre-season because you were so fast at the beginning, your times aren't getting any better and it looks like you actually aren't getting fitter.
Out of all the clubs who were interested, I got the feeling that, deep down, Chelsea showed that they really wanted me. There were lots of reasons I came to Chelsea. They showed a real desire to get me to come here. I didn't have to think about it too much.