Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A good financial proposal doesn't mean you'll get to do a lot of things. There are times when you have to think about your career.
When you change teams, cities or countries it's obvious there's a period of adaption, but some players can adapt quicker than others.
When I was 19 years old, I quit football completely. For about a month, I stayed at home in a depression. This was in the summer of 2008.
I've played football my entire life, all over the world, and the one thing I've learned is that the important thing is to enjoy your work.
I have been told you don't have time to think too much when you get the ball in England. In practice it looks even more dynamic than on TV.
Ever since I was five years old, running around the streets of Zona Norte with a football, my mother has been by my side in every situation.
I am a player who helps in defence but I have played in a more attacking position during my career and I like to be close the opposition area.
When I came to Barca, I know some people doubted me. They weren't totally convinced. But, and I've said this before, that never really bothers me.
When I left Tottenham for China i knew I would be further away but my main objective was to play because I wasn't playing and I decided to move on.
One minute I was with Tottenham, the next came a proposal from China. I took a step back to think about it and decided it was the right time to move.
I've always looked at what Lampard does, and to me is a huge phenomenon - the way he hits the ball, what positions he takes up - he really is incredible.
I left Brazil at 17 years old in order to give my family a better life, but when I returned home two years later, I was completely disillusioned with football.
A lot of people felt it was difficult for me to come to Barca because I was playing in China. Nevertheless, I have achieved my dream and I am enjoying each day.
In my second season at Tottenham, things didn't go as I wanted but I accepted the offer from Chinese football and there I recovered my confidence and I won titles.
In Lithuania they had racially abused me, in Poland they hadn't paid me, and I thought: 'I don't need this.' I said to my family: 'I'm not playing football again.'
I've had the opportunity to play with Neymar on the national team. Now I'm playing alongside Messi. He's a different player, but he's the best player in the world.
Playing alongside Messi is special for me. He's a player I always wanted to play with. I have played against him with Brazil, but to play alongside him is a privilege.
I had criticism in different clubs I played for. When i played in Corinthians, Tottenham and Barcelona there was some criticism but I always did my work, trying to do my best.
You are told before coming to Europe that big teams here quite often rotate players. I respect this culture but it is instinctive for me to get annoyed if I don't play every game.
In 2011, when I was in Corinthians, I received an offer from Russia that offered me to win 10 times more than in Brazil and I answered: 'What I can do with five, I can do with two.'
When someone is playing alongside the best player in the world, you just have to do what you need to do to make him the best and ensure that the ball gets to him as quickly and as often as possible.
You have to go to sleep at night staring at the wall, thinking, 'Damn, I can't wait for it to be morning so I can have the ball at my feet again!' You can only play your best football in these conditions.
As for Iniesta, he does things in training and in games that I've never seen before. He is an example to follow. You think he might touch the ball four times and yet he only makes one touch. He's unpredictable.
I did not have to prove anything to people who doubted me, just to my team-mates and to Barcelona. The best thing is to do it on the field, with victories, with goals. But more than the goals is winning matches.
I have always been very calm and with all the triumphs I have had I have always been sure to thank my colleagues and take things in a humble way. It is only because of this humility that I have achieved so much.
I had a good first season at Tottenham, but in the second there wasn't a sequence of games. So when I didn't feel happy, I waited for the season to end and then asked the president to let me go to try another challenge.
When I went from Tottenham to China a lot of people said that was it, my career was over. I had a couple of other offers at the time but they were both loans and I would have had to go back at the end. I just wanted to play.
I was getting ready to take a free-kick in a game between Brazil and Argentina. Suddenly, I saw Messi behind me getting closer bit by bit, and he says 'are we going to Barcelona or not?' I said, 'if you want to bring me there, you can. I'll go.'
People always talk and always will - 'He's good now because he's at Barca,' 'He was only good then because he was in China,' blah, blah, blah. When I was at Bragantino and I went to Corinthians it was the same; it was the same at Tottenham and in China. I've had that since the beginning.
