Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I have no fear of anyone.
Merkel is a big fan of football.
Life normally rewards you for hard work.
Winning the cannon was a childhood dream.
We have to win if we want to be champions.
Being gay is no longer a taboo subject in Germany.
You can't expect our opponents to play cautiously.
I'll do anything to get a place in the national team.
I'd call my time at Bayern Munich a roller-coaster ride.
I don't have any use for the hatred in a football stadium.
It's tough to leave one of the greatest clubs in the world.
Everyone's entitled to be a fan of team and to support his side.
For me, scoring goals is the most fun. That's why I love soccer so much.
You score the winner against a tough opponent and you still get heaped on.
I've got nothing to teach to the Italians - I love playing in this league.
A World Cup in Brazil is the greatest event in which a footballer can play.
Between 2008 and 2010 I exhausted myself because I wanted to please everyone.
If I become a European champion, I don't care whether I have absolute recognition or not.
If for half a year you only get 10 minutes to play from the bench, then you have no rhythm.
Scoring from a metre out is just as beautiful as lobbing a goalkeeper from the halfway line.
Italian football's different to Spanish and German, but it's only different and not inferior.
The Bundesliga is extremely attractive. In the long run it will be the most attractive league of all.
What matters and what remains are the titles you win with a team. League and Cup, that's what matters.
Bayern Munich made it possible for me to achieve the greatest wish of any footballer: Winning the Champions League.
For me, the most important thing is to be part of the team and contribute to the club's success with my performances.
Obviously, it's my goal to be the top scorer in the Bundesliga, but it wouldn't be a disaster if I didn't achieve that.
I don't measure my performances in goals any more, it's more important that my team-mates see how hard I work for them.
I am not crazy enough to compare myself with Messi because he is the best there ever was and the best there will ever be.
At one point, I asked myself whether I was having fun with the national team, or whether I was just out to convince critics.
I know from my Real Madrid team-mates Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira and my family in Andalucia that people look up to me in Spain.
Of course I want to score more goals in the Champions League. But I never want to compare myself or be compared to Lionel Messi.
The rotation system at Bayern makes it nearly impossible to play week after week, even when you're putting in some top performances.
The point is that there are few opportunities in top games. For this you need a striker who has the absolute will to achieve the goal.
My dream is to win something here in Italy and I won't talk about scoring a specific number of goals. I just want to do the best I can.
I guess there are worse things than being compared to Messi but I don't look at what he is doing. I just try to give my best for my team.
I came to Munich full of confidence, with plenty of energy, and really looking forward to it, in a way I don't think I'd had in my career before.
At 26, you're in your prime as a striker. And in the mid-20s you're more mature, you have experience in game-deciding situations, you stay relaxed.
I have played for many clubs, and for many managers, and been through many highs and lows. But one thing has never changed. And that's the feeling of scoring a goal.
When it became clear that I couldn't stay at Bayern I thought about going to play in Spain or Italy. Fiorentina came forward, they were looking for a striker, and everything happened very quickly.
Juventus made a big offer for me, I think it was around €20 million. Stuttgart were thinking about it, but I was the one who declined. I thought it was better for me to stay there and grow as a player before making a big move.
Scoring a goal is an explosion of feelings. It's there immediately - bam! Before you kick the ball, you feel like you're 200 kilos. Then the ball leaves your foot, goes through the air and ripples the net. And for that moment, you're weightless.
Sometimes you'll go up against keepers like Casillas - the 'penalty killer,' as many of us call him. Other times, there's that one defender that, for 90 minutes, just destroys you. There is one in particular who will always stand out in my mind. Nemanja Vidic.
As a striker, your job is mostly to forget. When you have someone like Vidic marking you, and it's misery for 89 minutes, all you have to do is forget everything. Forget the 89 minutes. Because in the 90th minute, you might finally get your chance. I have been pretty good at this in my career.
I have said that if I leave Bayern I will go abroad. Then came this interesting offer from Liverpool. I took the loan offer seriously and discussed it with my family and girlfriend because I just want to play. But Bayern gave me the impression that they see a future for me. And therefore a change was not an issue anymore.