Quotes from Jermain Defoe

There is always going to be competition. When you play for a top club, you're going to attract top players. It's part and parcel of football.

When I get up in the morning, I look forward to the games and I'm just buzzing. At the end of the day, if you are nervous or scared before games, you are not going to perform. I just go out there and think, 'If I get a chance, I'm going to score' and that's it.

When you play with good players, they will always create chances for the forwards to score.

I just get up in the morning and say: 'Yeah man, I'm ready to score goals.'

I think my faith is important. Being young as well, sometimes it's difficult, but I've got a good family behind me as well.

I understand it's difficult but you've got to think about yourself, you know, and not just follow the crowd.

I want to again highlight the desperate need for us to pull together - the world over - to tackle knife crime and teach everyone how sacred a life is.

I pray every day. In the mornings and, before I go to bed. I think it's important to pray not just when things are going bad. When things are going bad, it's easy to pray and ask God to help you out, but it's also important to pray when things are going well and show your appreciation.

I had to tell Dad, 'It will be okay and be positive; keep praying and have faith'. I have always known about cancer, but to be around someone who has it and to see what it does in such a short space of time was hard. It makes you think about your life, about what is important.

You want to play in the best stadiums against the best players - your Real Madrid's and Barcelona's - you want to play those teams.

People know what they're getting with me. It's part and parcel of football that people want to see new faces, but all I can do is play games, score goals and prove I can do it. My record is there for everyone to see.

I've got a Ferrari 430. It's black. I don't know what it cost but it wasn't cheap. I bought it because I was being a boy. It's fast and looks good.

I am a bit of a control freak. If I get married, my wife isn't going out. No way. She's staying at home. She's not going out to clubs without me. I've already decided the rules, whoever she is.

The key for me is movement. When the ball comes into the box, or when the wide players get it, that's where I have to be clever and make my runs. That's where I come alive.

I don't think I could ever describe myself as unlucky because people would look at me, playing football for a living, and say: 'Are you winding me up?'

I knew I could play really well in one game, score the winning goal and then, come the next game, I wouldn't play at all or I might come off the bench for the last five minutes. So I was frustrated towards the end of my time at Spurs. I wasn't happy.

I don't feel like I'm getting older. I think it's the way I've looked after myself. I take my football seriously. I love scoring goals and I get a good feeling from it, so I'll do whatever it takes to be fit and feel good in games.

I'm a forward, but I can't be the only forward at a club. Over the years, the clubs who've won titles have had several strikers.

I don't go out drinking and stuff like that. My friends say 'Just have one drink, JD.' I say 'What's the point?' I'll go to a club and have a Red Bull, get my buzz. And the next day I feel cool. It's discipline, not just with drinking but a lot of things in life. You've just got to look at the bigger picture.

Before games, people ask whether I get nervous. To be honest, I don't get nervous, I just enjoy it. I am living the dream. When I was a kid I always wanted to play for my country and now I am here, I will enjoy it.

I've always been a religious person, and I try to think that every disappointment might just be a blessing in disguise.

It was easy to get wrapped up in some of the negative stuff, but obviously I chose not to. I didn't want to get in trouble and end up in prison where I can't play football. It was as simple as that.

To win a major tournament you have to face the top teams at some point, but if you avoid those at the beginning then you can win games and build confidence. I think the key is just to get off to a good start.

Going to a major tournament, having that buzz - it's hard to put into words. It's a dream to go there, and to play. It's the biggest thing you can achieve in your career, and to go again would be a dream.