Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The World Cup was a huge frustration because I had prepared really hard for it. But in the World Cup there is no formula, no recipe for success.
I stayed in Milan for six years. I stayed in Madrid for four years. I played in Brazil for nine years, so I always think about the good projects.
People talk about the history of Manchester United or Liverpool, but look what Arsenal achieved with the team of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.
If it's good for me to go to the national team and play there - not just go there to give experience but to play and be useful - I think it's good.
Mourinho helped me grow. He taught me to be patient, to keep fighting, and to respect the coach's decisions. He helped me mature and turned me into a man.
In 2009, I accepted the proposal of Real Madrid, but I was completely destroyed there because I could not give what I had given Milan. I was completely lost.
Often, players at clubs I have been at have asked me for prayers or advice. I prefer to show them things rather than to say things; with my actions, not my words.
I have been in many teams that have had loads of talent but did not make it through and been with teams that did not have that much talent and ended up being champions.
When I do an interview, when I appear on camera, I want to be the same person as the one you meet personally and say, 'He is really the same person I saw on television.'
I learned to respect the coach and to do everything within my power to show that I should be the one playing. That's exactly what I did during my three years under Mourinho.
His ambition for victory sets Mourinho apart. He wants to win every game, so he prepares all the smallest details; in training, at the game, everything. I loved to work with him.
In Brazil, we think we can help by using our image, the fact that we are very well known, to help others. I think lots of footballers want to do something, but many don't know how.
It's not so easy to apply to today's society things that were written thousands of years ago. But that's exactly the job of a minister - to make the teaching of the Bible relevant.
I would love to have a career like Zinedine Zidane. He stopped playing, took some time, realised he liked coaching, and started working in the youth academy. I could follow a similar path.
Jose Mourinho was a difficult coach for me, and we had a respectful but complicated relationship. When I thought he would give me a chance, I couldn't prove to him that I was in good shape.
At Real Madrid, everything gets taken to extremes, as much for the good things as the bad things, so you have to adapt to the way that the press and the fans live through different situations.
I am always in love with Milan. The relationship with the team, with the club, and with these fans is beautiful. It's weird for a Brazilian to have a relationship like that with an Italian club.
The World Cup is a competition in which everything needs to work to your advantage. Players need to be fit, decisions have to go in your favour, and details such as a red card can cost a team dearly.
I have good memories of Real Madrid. Professionally, it was a difficult period, but my experience there was very good in all senses, as I grew a lot, learned many things, and lived with great champions.
I use a few phrases to let people know a little bit about who I am. One of them is I belong to Jesus, which is a phrase I always wear on a shirt during the most important moments of my professional career.
England have always had individually strong players, and I am a huge fan of Stevie Gerrard, who has the heart of a lion and is the icon of the modern footballer with his ability to attack and defend so well.
In Italy, the coaches are very attentive to the details. They really study things, and that is a big difference here. They look at your movement, your positioning. They study you and work out how to stop you.
My time at Real Madrid wasn't a failure. I played 120 matches, I scored 28 goals, and I played an average of 30 games a season. What's more, I won three trophies: La Liga, a Copa del Rey, and a Supercopa de Espana.
In my time at Milan, the club played with a 4-3-1-2 formation, and I was the player behind the two strikers. At Real, I play behind three. There is a greater defensive obligation, but I try to work around the area.
I thank God for all the victories and conquests I've had this year as a player and I bring to the altar two prizes. This is first my son who is about to be born. The other is my trophy from Fifa, which I want to dedicate to God.
I'm very happy with where I arrived, both personally and professionally. I can say more so personally, because my career will have to end eventually. I do not know how long it will be, but eventually it will end, and the personal will continue.
It has been tough when I have been with the national team and we have gone to play in some of the poorer areas in Brazil. You see people come and watch us train or play a match, and then you know some of them are going home with no food on the plate.
It is not my place to make judgments about the behavior of any other footballer. Cars and women, things like that, have never been important to me. My family, and my belief in God and Jesus are the things which determine my life. I do want to live my life in the right way, and live my life close to God.
