Quotes from Jerome Boateng

I have always liked wearing clothes that help me stand out quietly, not loudly.

I am happy to be a German. I'm proud, or I wouldn't be here in the team.

It really should not matter which colour of skin a person has. I know where my roots are, and I know that I've been born and raised in Germany. I see myself as a German, and I like to show that.

I do feel my African side, but I've always wanted to play for Germany. Ghana did contact me, but I told them and my dad that I was sure I wanted to play for Germany.

When you fall down or slip in a situation, and somebody scores a goal, it's normal. These things happen. It happens to me; it happens to other players, I don't care about these things.

It's absolutely fine to be a bit more reactive and not chase after the ball at times. But you cannot be passive.

I will always look back with great pleasure on the time spent in the DFB team.

At Bayern, if you don't win the Champions League, it's always a criticism because we have a great team, but most of the people forget that there are other great teams, and it's not that we aren't special.

The Ballon d'Or is nice, but at the end of the day, I want to have success and play good, and if people recognise me, then I'm happy.

I've had three injuries, and one took from 2016 to 2017 for me to recover. Three months I was out because I wasn't perfect, and I lost a lot of games for this injury.

I wanted to set new goals, because if you say, 'Oh, I'm world champion,' you don't grow, and you don't keep your level.

I didn't think every day, 'I'm world champion, I'm world champion,' not at all.

You meet somebody on a bus or something, and they say, 'Thank you for the World Cup; it was so good to see,' and stuff like this - it's funny.

You need bad times to become a better and strong player.

We can only stop Cristiano Ronaldo as a team. In front of goal, he's like a machine. You can't shut him out completely; he always gets his chances in a game because of the lines he runs and his excellent timing.

Over the years, you get better at timing because you've been through the situations thousands of times. The ball goes over your head; he passes you on the right, left. Eventually, you just know what you have to do.

To get the title for your home country in another country like Brazil, the home of football - it was amazing.

It would be a huge honour for me to wear the armband for Germany as the first black captain ever.

Messi and Ronaldo are the toughest. But I would also place Eden Hazard of Chelsea, Neymar of Barcelona, and Karim Benzema of Real Madrid on the list.

When you get a little bit older, you're always trying to do something different from your siblings.

I had only one year in England and had not such a good time. Two times, I was out eight weeks with injuries.

I had injuries - even when I was younger, I had problems with my back. I had to grow up very fast.

It was especially tough following my shoulder injury. I was able to play again after three months out, but it wasn't the same Boateng. I had the feeling I was in another body.

Jay-Z is one of the biggest stars in the world and such an icon. He was so down to earth. It was like talking to a friend. I have huge respect for how he handles everything.