Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Sometimes a team plays very well but doesn't manage to score, while another team comes and scores. But then, that's how football is.
I am thankful to Fenerbahce for the opportunity that they gave me and I believe that I repaid their faith with good work on the pitch.
Difficulty is when you go to a place where the people don't like you, they put a burden on you like what happened to me in Olympiakos.
When I went to Japan, I was with Kashima Antlers. Very good results were produced with that team as I aimed to develop Japanese football.
I hope that all the Indian football players who will be with me under my coaching will show their talent and come out with great success.
I've learned that showing your emotions can work against you and that you need to have a business-like attitude to observe things with a cool head.
Maradona, if the ball came from his right, he would turn and would use his left foot, because he did not use his right. But he did use his right hand.
In Brazil, U.S., Japan and some other countries, there are many sports being played and I hope that will be the case in India as well. Sports is good for the country.
For me dialogue is as essential in football as in life. I like to talk to my players and I never impose anything, I always give them the chance to make their own choices.
Profit and fame will not develop Indian football. Professionals, technique development, legacy specialists, and experts in football business, will develop India as football country.
In Japan, when I went there, there was no professionalism at all. But the biggest advantage was that everyone was united and wanted to progress from amateur football to professional.
Considering Messi's quality and everything he represents, I don't think I've seen him playing with a guy following him around the pitch the entire time with the sole purpose of not letting him play.
In my career I always tried to improve to become one of the great players, because I felt I had received a gift from God and I had to make good use of it, to become worthy of having received this talent.
Brazilian boys as young as 14 and 15 are now based in Europe. They spend their best years in Europe and come back to Brazil when they are past their prime. This has destroyed local clubs and championships.
I remember winning the Asian Cup in 2004 in China, coming through so much adversity including a final against the hosts. We won 3-1 and it was a wonderful competition, which we won by playing great football.
Brazilian football has always been very much admired in Japan and, of course, after my participation and so many other Brazilians, it was like they created a new style of play in homage to Brazilian football.
The ISL brought together many football cultures such as Italians, Dutch, French, English and Spanish. There were no Brazilians! I brought something from Brazil, a team of professionals that changed something.
It's hard for me to get to grips with how much players have changed since I retired. There are too many annoying habits; the kids are getting rich earlier and earlier, which brings a weird sense of entitlement.
Being a soccer coach is just like being a general who has the responsibility of guiding his troops into battle. If a coach acts too emotionally on the bench, his players cannot focus on their game on the field.
During practice sessions I try and bring every inch of my experience to show the players what to expect, what can happen, what to avoid so that the team can focus on what they have learnt during training sessions.
Tactically, technically, physically, mentally he was the best. A lot of things that I learnt was from Pele's sticker albums: how to head, how to shoot the ball. It was like a step-by-step guide. I learnt from Pele as a kid.
I traveled to many countries when I played. But wherever I went, it was a journey between an airport, a hotel, a stadium and a railway station or a bus terminal and I didn't have a chance to experience these places properly.
I remember Arsene Wenger very well from our time in Japan. I like the way his teams play, with an offensive mentality - it is a philosophy I share. I think he gets the best out of the players he has, and this is the key to his success.
When God built Pele, he put everything that a player needs in him. He knew how to shoot, how to dribble, how to head, be physical. He had everything that a football player needs to have. It's difficult for someone to achieve what he has in football.
Arsene Wenger's mentality has been to bring together footballers who bring happiness in our sport, the type of players I like to watch. I've followed him since he was in Japan, and he always was a guardian of the art of football - football with happiness and football played well.
I think the difference with Japan was that they didn't bring in too many foreign players. In my opinion at the ISL it's not too good to have too many foreigners playing. The minimum of five Indian players is too less in my opinion. Since it's the ISL, we have to encourage more Indian football.
A lot of people talk about what the 1982 team did on the pitch but that side was so dear to Brazilian fans also because it featured players that supporters would see in flesh and bone on a regular basis, either at games or even on the streets. Now they basically only see the Selecao on the TV.
When I was a kid, my big hero was the number 10 of Flamengo and not the number 10 of Santos. His name was Dida. We didn't have much knowledge about the championship in Sao Paolo or in the south of Brazil. We just knew about the championship in Rio because I am from there. But Pele played for the national team and was a hero.
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi never ever stop playing for the team. If I were young today, they are players on which I would mirror myself. Players of this level, play for the team. Players that are the best because they prepared themselves to bet You don't see these players going out, on social media, skipping training to be in parties.
It's so important to be chosen for the national team. For the Copa America, for the World Cup, or just friendly matches, it's such an honour to reach that stage and be chosen for the team. People expect players to wear Brazil's shirt, win the title with pride, and keep winning. You have to have the mental strength to get over this pressure.
