Quotes from Andrea Pirlo

When you're rivals, you can never be friends.

Better to leave before someone else has the idea of sending you away.

Being a philosopher is to think, seek wisdom, and have principles that guide and influence what you do. It's to give meaning to things, find your way in the world, believe that in the end, in every instance, good will overcome evil, even if there's a bit of suffering along the way.

I'm a bit of a wandering gypsy on the pitch.

One part of my job I'll never learn to love is the pre-match warm-up. I hate it with every fibre of my being. It actually disgusts me.

I played with many champions, but the important thing is always the team, as the group goes beyond any single player.

It's clear that anyone who plays in Belgium or another league with less quality still has a chance of making the Champions League or the Europa League.

It would actually be a dream way to end my time in Turin, by winning the Champions League.

It's not easy to win the Champions League.

In football, like in life, there are always millimetres which can change things - the course of a goal or of a life.

Surely it was the best decision of my career to sign for Juventus.

To get onto the Maracana pitch is the dream of every child.

Scoring from a dead-ball brings me massive satisfaction. It sets me up as an example for other players to follow, copy, and perhaps even emulate over the course of time. For them, I'm a Juninho Pernambucano 2.0, a Brazilian with a Brescia accent.

All my ex-teammates didn't want to become coaches, yet they've all done it.

I am extremely lucky - I met Antonio Conte. I had so many coaches to compare him to, and he is the one that surprised me the most.

I never compete to take part but to finish first.

Swearing's my release. It's the one weapon I have to defend myself against destiny when it elects to strike without pity.

I do not have a Facebook page, and I do not chat on Twitter. I don't have a web site, even if there are people who have opened one in my name, complete with my photo.

In order to go all the way, you need everyone's contribution.

I came to New York City as a player, so my objective is to take the team as high as possible, preferably to victory. If that helps Major League Soccer grow, then that's welcome, too, but I was signed as a New York City FC player and to do what's best for the team.

Right from the moment I arrived at Juve, I could immediately sense the club's will to win, the determination to go as far as possible as quickly as possible.

Since I was a child, I watched tapes of Baggio, Zico, and Maradona, and then I tried to replicate them just playing on my own against the wall. Certainly it's talent, but you have to cultivate that talent.

I always play to win. I always have big targets in mind.

Yes, many times an assist is more difficult than a goal; you need to find the right space and measure the force used in order to provide your teammate with the right position in order to score.