Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
It's difficult to say what I would be doing if I wasn't a footballer, but I probably would have sold coal like my father. Studying was never my thing, and I would surely have ended up working with my dad.
It's interesting how Rod Stewart can father a child at 65, and a straight, single footballer named Cristiano Ronaldo can arrange to have a surrogate have a baby, and neither of them receives any criticism.
I am from a sports background, and always wanted to become either a cricketer or footballer; in short, just play some sport and represent my country. I got diverted, but the sportsman in me is still alive.
People don't understand that the feel of the surface is so important for a footballer. The ball travels on the surface; our feet move on the surface - all of that goes into how the game is actually played.
I was 19 or 20 when The Beatles were at their peak, and I was coming up to the peak of my career, too. I was also the first footballer to have long hair, and that's how I got my nickname 'the Fifth Beatle.'
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.
There's going to be bumps along the way, in any walk of life, not just as a professional footballer with injuries. You've got to be resilient with it and keep pushing through. It'll make you stronger as well.
To score in the World Cup final is not a small story, of course. Every footballer dreams of it: first to become a world champion and then, even better, to score in the final. This happened to me, and I'm glad.
Let me tell you what it is like playing against Messi. You are up against a footballer who can take the ball either side of you, and you have no idea which side that might be from any hint about his body-shape.
There is nothing worse than not being involved. You are sitting there thinking, 'What exactly am I? A footballer who is not playing football?' You feel a bit worthless sitting in the stands, watching all the time.
As a footballer, everything you've achieved can easily be lost, and then you are nobody. That's just how life is, and that's why you shouldn't let things get you down. That's the reason I treat every match like a final.
A talented footballer comes over, his family depends on him, and if his agent or club don't treat him well, he might not succeed, and then he feels he's let everyone down. For years, African players have been exploited.
I'm a role model as a footballer and not as a politician. I want to see myself as a footballer. People respect me for my performances. That's why they support me, and I'm very thankful for that. But I'm not a politician.
You have got to get to know people, and moving down to Liverpool from the North East was a huge change for me. But, at the same time, you have just got to get on with it, and that is part and parcel of being a footballer.
If you can have a career as a footballer for 13 years then you're really lucky, but there will probably be plenty of supporters up and down the country saying that I wasn't a top player, to put it kindly. That's for sure.
I've always dreamt of being a footballer. You only get one shot at a career like this, and I want to be the best professional I can. Anything I can do that means I can get the best out of my ability is what I'll try and do.
Every footballer enjoys having the ball at their feet. There are times in training you find yourself without the ball. I enjoy that side of it as well. If we can spend more time working with the ball then everyone will enjoy it.
Messi is as famous as any footballer has ever been, and yet, when it comes down to it, we don't know much about him. I read that he is a family man and likes to walk his dogs, but beyond that, he's a mystery, really. I like that.
When you are a player, a footballer, or a manager of a great club like Chelsea, you must play to win. To win. To win the title. Or to fight and, at the end, to compete with the other teams to win the title and reach your targets.
The Premier League is one of the best in the world, without a doubt. The stadiums are always full, and the atmosphere is incredible, but not every footballer is able to play in England. The character can be difficult for a foreigner.
I had to go to see the careers woman at school, and when she asked me what I wanted to do after school, I told her flat: 'I want to be a professional footballer.' I can remember her being silent for a few seconds, just looking at me.
You're obviously conscious of being brash or big-headed but I always knew I was going to be a footballer when I was seven or eight. I didn't just think I wanted to be one, I knew I was going to be one. Nothing ever surprised me really.
As a young kid, you never really understand what it takes to be a footballer: what it's like after you've won or what the changing room is like after a loss, or, as an individual, have you played a good game? Have you played a bad game?
To be a footballer was just a dream, and I don't believe in dreams. I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I've never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I'm the same now.
I know that I don't look like a footballer but I've always enjoyed working out and I've always been bigger than most people out there. I come from big stock. If you see my brothers and me together, we look like a wrestling tag team trio.
I am a professional footballer, and it's a game where the coach decides where you can be most beneficial for the team. As long as I am attacking, I am happy! I know what Jose Mourinho decides will be best for me personally and for the team.
I started with Paul Le Guen. He told me to double up in positions if he was missing a left back or a midfielder. From that moment, it was clear in my mind that I would be a professional footballer, and I began working even faster to get there.
Before leaving, I was seen as a good player, perhaps as a very good player, but as one of the many players that Bayern had. But if you play as a Real footballer, you get even more attention. Maybe that part from the fans I do not like so much.
It doesn't change the way I am, but I do totally understand how you're looked at as a footballer, especially by children. I don't claim I can shape their lives, but there's no harm in having good manners and being seen to play the game properly.
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.
I'm a working class lad. So at 25, and with no-one in our family having any theatrical inclination, when I said, 'I'm going to scratch all that and become an actor,' I may as well have said I was going to be a Premiership footballer for the chance I'd have.
People would say: 'Look what he has on his face, look at his head. What is this scar? It's so ugly.' Wherever I went, people would look at me. And not because I was a good person or because my name is Franck or was a good footballer, but because of the scar.
I'm very proud of 'Gavin and Stacey,' but I think I have to write something else even to start to consider myself a writer. Just because you do something once, it doesn't mean that's who you are. I played football last night; it doesn't mean I'm a footballer.
From United's point of view, it is always difficult to tell just when a young footballer is going to mature into a first-class professional ready to play at the highest level, but the story of how Pogba slipped away from United has more than one strand to it.
I had an early taste of fame. I was 20, going out with TV presenter Dani Behr and we'd have paparazzi chasing us. I'm not comfortable being photographed, though I accept it is part of the job. I had to ask myself, 'What comes first, being a celebrity or footballer?'
I think it's all about confidence and having a regular run in the team. The rest takes care of itself; a footballer never forgets how to play football, and I'm convinced that game time, matches, was all I needed because, ultimately, no one forgets how to score goals.
If I have to, I'll keep going until my career ends, but I think I've found a club to put down roots. A traditional club that supports its people, people who believe in it and give everything. I'd like to be part of that, a great footballer for many years for Arsenal.
People at school used to assume I was going to be a footballer, and it wasn't until I got to 16, when I was at Southampton, that I had a doubt for the first time in my life. Southampton said I wasn't big enough, but it was just because I hadn't grown. Simple as that.
I've played football with George Best, the greatest footballer that ever lived. That doesn't make me a footballer. And I've sung a duet with Pavarotti. That doesn't make me an opera singer. I can write and I have a story to tell, but I'm not going to make a career out of it.
I'm very aware that you lead a very peculiar existence as a professional footballer, being flown everywhere first-class and never having to queue up for anything. Of course, that's attractive, but if you're not careful, you end up living in a world where nothing is really real.
We had to be down early to get the best stuff for the pros we looked after and then get the rags that we were left ourselves for training. It seems very old school but it grounded me as a person and made me appreciate everything as a footballer, because all we got was a pair of boots.
That's what being a footballer is, really: you train at this time, you finish at that time, then you do that, then you go home, then you're not allowed out, then you do this... there comes a point in your career - about thirty, thirty-one - when you get a bit sick of being screamed at.
There are two metaphors for Mario the person and not Mario the footballer. I think I am a man, but I don't believe I need to say it. But I could also be Peter Pan because I do things my own way and I am free. So, yes, maybe I should say that I am Peter Pan - although I am much more of a man.
My dream was to become a footballer. I started loving football so much that I followed my dad wherever he went and spent all my time playing football with friends out in the fields. But my parents also taught me the important values and principles in life of respect and to raise me in that way.
Originally, I wanted a pop career and formed a girl-band 'Genie Queen' managed by Andy McClusky from 'Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark', but it didn't work out. My brother John is the talented singer and song-writer with 'The Razz,' while my other brother Sean is a footballer for Telford United.
How does it feel? Really, I don't know because I never try to feel more or less than any player in Leverkusen or Mexico. I don't feel like I'm more famous than other players; I'm just one more footballer who wants to achieve their dreams and to try to help their team as much as they can to do that.
Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn't thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I'm just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.
I want to work with kids and help develop them, show them the right way, the right morals and attitude into how to become a better footballer. Australia has many different cultures but I'd like to bring in the indigenous style, bring their competitiveness, athleticism and raw ability into the frame.
My dad was a professional footballer before I was alive. When I was growing up, he was the one who coached and mentored me and helped me to become what I am today. Without his coaching and without his insight and the days and the hours that he put in with me, I wouldn't be the player that I am today.
A friend at school was always being laughed at because his father emptied dustbins for a living. But those who laughed worshipped famous footballers. This is an example of our topsy-turvy view of 'success.' Who would we miss most if they did not work for a month, the footballer or the garbage collector?