Quotes About Football

Paolo Maldini. He was tough, tough, every time we played against each other. And I played against him many times. He's a very good friend.

There's so much built-up camaraderie and sacrifice, and football is such a tough man's game. I think that's why it's so popular. That's why so many blue-collar communities and people can really feel attracted to this because it is a blue-collar struggle that football players go through.

I've been lucky to be born in Spain to a good family. But some team-mates reached the same position from a tough background. Football is equal, and it doesn't matter where you come from.

I love football, but being away from it is tough.

When you look at what we want our individual player to represent from that makeup, if you will, we're looking for mentally and physically tough players who are smart and want to compete. And when you say smart, you're talking about situational awareness. Guys that are instinctual. That are smart football players.

Alan Hutton and I are always fighting the corner for Scottish football. It's a really tough league down here with a lot of quality players trying to get into the Premier League.

Since I have been in the league, playing against the Chargers is a big deal, and has always been a tough one.

Sometimes you have tough moments, sometimes good moments, and this is normal in football.

You see, when I was young, I loved playing football. But where I grew up in southern Nigeria, it was kind of like a ghetto. It was a tough place to be a kid. You had to work very hard to make a living there, and my family did not have the extra funds to buy a real ball.

It takes a very tough man to play defensive line at any level of football, but to be able to do it on a Division 1 level, or a professional level, it takes that intensity, that aggression, and you have to be tough.

If you grew up in a household with a football coach who looks like a drill sergeant, you would think you would be tough.

In my private life, I don't really do too much because the matches are so tough in the Premier League that it takes time to recover in between.

Football is a tough game. It's a tough game for tough people.

You are brought up to realise that there will always be tough times in football and that nothing is ever straight forward.

I like both athletic girls and girly girls. It depends on their personality. I like girls who can go out and play sports with me and throw the football around, but you don't want a girl who's too much tougher than you. I like brainy girls who can respond to what I'm saying.

I am very proud of being Brazilian, but I am also thankful for having the chance to play in Germany for four and a half years. I have completely changed the way I play football because Germany is a tougher, faster game which is more tactical with tighter marking.

I have always been small, so defenders have always been taller and tougher than me. So that's difficult for me; they foul me sometimes, but there you are - that's what the rules of the game are for.

I like rugby - I watch it from time to time. It's basically football without pads but probably a little bit more dangerous than football. You've got to be a lot tougher in that sport - but I definitely like watching rugby and watching those guys knock each other around. It looks like a fun sport.

In football, we tried each week to come up with the best game plan for every opponent. Some were tougher than others.

International football's not always about playing the top three in the world - it's about going to some of the tougher places around Europe and playing real tough games.

Any injury is tough, and it is a little bit tougher when it is the hand that you have to catch with, but it is football man. I wouldn't have it any other way.

People think this is easy to be a football player. They only see the summit but they don't see the ascent, which is far longer and tougher than the career peaks. And there are so few of us to reach the summits. Some might earn €305,000 per month but there are a lot more for whom life is hell.

The toughest defenders I've faced are Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Ivan Cordoba, Ciro Ferrara and Walter Samuel.

Without a doubt, one of the toughest football players to ever play the game is Tom Brady.