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I have no regrets. I won with the most prestigious clubs in the world - Real Madrid and Juventus - and also with the national team. I won the Ballon d'Or and Fifa World Player at 33 years old.
Madrid's anarchy can make planning difficult: they're unpredictable. But if you can be defensively sound and use the ball well, making the most of the space they leave, you can do them damage.
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 would like Ajax to be people's favourite second team. Like in Spain, if you are a Real Madrid fan, then you can't be a Barcelona supporter. It's the same in Italy. But you can be an Ajax fan.
Porto helped me quite a bit but I worked really hard, with lots of enthusiasm and humility and with my mind always focused on returning to Real Madrid. It was a fantastic year on a personal level.
Show me a team of the stature of Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, or Barcelona who is not obsessed with winning the Champions League. If they are not, I'd be surprised why they play in it.
If you are the coach of Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid, the chances to win something are huge. When you go to the Premier League, you have six, seven, eight teams who are fighting to win.
I hope to stay many years in Manchester United and make history in this club. When I was at Porto and Atletico Madrid, I always wanted to improve to achieve my dream of playing in a team like this.
Barcelona and Real Madrid wingers, these are the big players at the big clubs and you have to watch them. They are at a top level. I'm not going to say they inspire me, but I take things from them.
My debut was in a final. I was not nervous. I scored a goal, and I won my first title. In all my debuts, I've always been able to score goals, and I have come to Madrid to stay and score many goals.
When I left Barcelona, staying in Spain was an important factor in my decision to join Madrid. I did not have to change country or learn a new language, adopt a different sort of lifestyle, and so on.
I am not going to lie: I know that there are clubs that want to sign me and can match Real Madrid's demands. But that's up to my representatives and the club. I will stay if the club wants me to stay.
Since Carlo Ancelotti has arrived, he had emphasised hard work and intensity, and now that is what Real Madrid are associated with. He has playing experience, which makes him different to other coaches.
I would give Fernando Torres a contract for life - not just as a player but as an example for everyone. He is a very nice guy, really close to the fans, and has inside him the values of Atletico Madrid.
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.
When I am in Madrid, I just like to see my friends and walk around the city. I go to the school where my mum works and help out. My plan B, if acting doesn't work out, is to work with disabled children.
I'm not saying there's no pressure at Evergrande, there's pressure at Evergrande all the time. But I am myself and, no matter if I'm playing for Real Madrid or at the World Cup, I've never felt pressure.
Everybody knows that there are quality players at centre back for Madrid and for me that's the day-to-day challenge. That's why it's important to be ready to take advantage of every chance that comes up.
The attacks of September 11 - and subsequent acts of terror from London to Madrid to Fort Hood, Texas - embody the most repulsive of human instincts, the will to power at the price of the lives of others.
When I moved from Independiente to Atletico Madrid, I was only 18, and I found it hard to adapt. But what surprised me most about moving to England was how fast the game was. I like it, but it is so quick.
Porto prepared me really well and this didn't go unnoticed in Spain, as before I went to Real Madrid the club were known as a graveyard for centre-backs. They had amazing centre-backs that had failed there.
When I got here with Real Madrid, the truth is they responded very well. I know that the people like me, they love me, they have a lot of warmth for me. I'm enchanted for that warmth and love they've shown.
When Atletico tried to buy me back, I did everything I could to make it possible. I had offers from clubs in France and Italy, but I would not have left Chelsea for any other side - only for Atletico Madrid.
In Spain you fight, of course, against Real Madrid and Barcelona, and they almost never lose because they have the biggest squads, and they are two of the biggest clubs in the world. So it's really difficult.
If I regret leaving City, I'd regret leaving Madrid, I would regret Arsenal, and I would regret maybe even Metz, where I started off. So I have no regrets in life; life is too short to start regretting things.
We're competing against other great cities: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo. That's why it's important that we all join together on the final path to Copenhagen. Having the support of President Obama is key.
Ajax have a set model, a defined youth programme - Barcelona have one too, and Juventus. And Atletico Madrid do too. Real Madrid don't - because they alternate developing their own players with signing talent.
In Madrid, there's a big street in the centre called Callao. I remember being there with my mum and pointing to one of the big film posters and saying, 'I want to be up there.' That was my dream, and I got it.
I am very proud to be at Madrid. It's something very special, and also to step out into the Bernabeu wearing the Madrid shirt for the first time was a fantastic feeling. The fans gave me a wonderful reception.
I think when people say Madrid are playing well and Barca are not and vice-versa, or when one wins the Champions League, it's better than the other, I don't think that makes sense. Everyone takes their own path.
I moved to Madrid with 200 bucks in my pocket to see what was going to happen. Of course, I didn't know that 200 euros was nothing, because in Cuba, 200 was a lot, and the money I had been saving from my movies.
Real Madrid is bigger than egos. The club is huge and the culture of the club was so big that we were able to sign huge players. It was then up to the players to adapt to the culture and not the other way around.
My departure from Madrid was my own choice. I had one year left on my contract, but I decided to go for a new professional experience, so I joined Schalke. I have no problem with the club and our rapport is good.
The news of the open military help to Franco from Hitler and Mussolini, and the heroic resistance of the people of Madrid, Barcelona and the big cities fired a widespread wish to help the Republic and its people.
The first painting that I realised I liked was 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' by Hieronymus Bosch, when I was six years old, at the Prado in Madrid. I still find myself returning there every time I'm in the city.
I still have a thorn in my side at not having played for Real Madrid or Barcelona, because playing there is a dream for every player. But I consider myself very satisfied to have played for the best teams in Italy.
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.
People might talk more about Real Madrid and Barcelona than about Atletico, but what matters to me is what happens on the pitch. We compete with them year after year. I am not interested about the club's reputation.
It's really important that when you come to a club, you know the history. My dream was always Real Madrid or Barcelona, but for the fans of Tottenham, the club is the biggest in the world. So that's how I treated it.
I enjoy every moment of playing for Real Madrid and naturally, I give it everything I've got. I do all I can to make sure the fans enjoy the football and that Madrid are always at the top, which is where they belong.
From the moment I left Sao Paulo and Brazil, I was fixed on staying here, playing for the first team and succeeding at Real Madrid. That was always my dream. But it was an advantage to be able to join Castilla first.
At Real Madrid, I did heading drills with Cristiano Ronaldo. You see him go up for headers, that spring and power - he is a real beast. At Juventus, I saw Fernando Llorente, how he finds space and directs his headers.
At the October 1933 proceedings of the League of Nations in Madrid, Lemkin mounted a valiant effort to persuade the gathered ambassadors to define and agree to punish the crime of what we now call genocide. He failed.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as more recent attacks in Madrid, Spain, and London, England, showed in a very tragic way just how vulnerable many areas of the world are to these sorts of actions.
I would love to finish my career at Real Madrid. But I would not cause a scene if, one day, a coach were to come along and decide he doesn't need me. Only then would I look elsewhere. And I repeat: Real is my priority.
Del Bosque was axed by Madrid for failing to retain the Champions League in 2003 but his sacking triggered the start of a spell when they won nothing for four years and failed to get beyond the Champions League's last 16.
Only the change on the international scene, the crisis in the gulf, and the strong, firm position of the United States against aggression between two Arab countries created realities that led to the Madrid Peace Conference.
The history of Real Madrid is impressive, and Cristiano Ronaldo added a piece more to the history of this club, but Real Madrid can't stop. The player changes club, stops playing, retires and Real Madrid will still be here.
Real Madrid is such an extraordinary club in terms of size and the constant politics that, perhaps, the best results are achieved by those with an ability to remove themselves from the spotlight to concentrate on their work.
With Tenerife, we had to fight in the most difficult second division in Spain with Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Real Betis, and we were promoted. I know you have to fight until the last day. We were promoted in the last game.