Quotes About Soccer

Once, I had to drive Oliver to soccer, was ten minutes late, and learned that there had apparently been a misprint in the Bible on the Ten Commandments thing: Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not be late to soccer. My father was so pissed, I practically had to get the lightning bolt surgically removed from my back.

Messi or Cristiano - Speed? Cristiano. Shot? Cristiano. Dribbling? Messi. Intelligence? Messi. Talent? Messi. Winner is Messi!

I'm always in the 'butcher' role. But the only way to stop Messi one-on-one is to foul him. Otherwise, if I'm alone, I'll only get the ball one in 20 times. I have to use other weapons, I know the best way to stop him. I know he does not like playing with his back to goal, you must be right on top of him when he gets the ball.

I know the importance of the number 10. In Brazil, the one who wears 10 constructs the attacks.

Weary soccer players just cannot run anymore and must resort to shootouts after 120 minutes when a result is mandatory, but men on skates can go indefinitely, no matter how badly it disrupts the television network's schedule.

I've never seen a town that's so connected and so proud of their team and so passionate about the game. That's what makes Dortmund stand out so much. The weather isn't very good, but it's just a great town to live in. It's really known for the soccer.

Friends from Vienna visit me a lot, and when the weather's bad we usually end up playing 'FIFA.'

I don't really have many regrets. I did miss a lot of the events in the days leading up to my sister's wedding because I was at a U17 camp. There were moments like that growing up when I felt like I focused too much on soccer. But that's probably the reason I am where I am today.

I have survived so long because I've been blessed with talented and gracious colleagues and with a top brass who let me choose my topics every week and then allowed me to express opinions that were not always popular. Well, someone had to stand up to the yackety-yak soccer cult.

I went to professional men's soccer games, the old North American soccer league at that time, and I used to be a ticket holder with my family and family friends. We would go every weekend and I thought it was great, but I just thought of it as recreation, as family fun.

If you want to know whether soccer is big in America, pick a weekend, go to any park in the land, and pay attention. We're there. We've always been.

I watched the Premier League every weekend with my dad - the highlight shows, everything.

Everyone wants to come to Portland to play, whether for us or against us.

When I was younger, I could never have imagined that me at 24 would have already won a league in Portugal, a league in France, a league in England, and playing for the national team.

I'm really trying to work on my defensive positioning.

Firmino is a player who is really good at adapting to different positions. He is a No. 9, but he helps a lot in build-up play.

I know and the manager knows my best position is centre-half but if I can learn two other positions if needed then it's great for me as a player and my development.

You want to learn from everyone, but I think one of the main guys I look up to is Thiago. We play different positions but his awareness on the field, his touches, everything about him is so calm.

I've played five positions in a match, not three!

I like to be in contact with the ball, have possession, to play.

At Tottenham, I'm asked to take a lot of risks to keep maximum possession of the ball and build from the back.

I like to have the ball, to have possession and to play passes, to create chances for my team-mates. I think that is what makes me strong.

My first poster was Michael Owen. I used to just love how he scored goals.

I had a poster of Iniesta. He seemed like a different player to me: elegant, special... a genius. I watched all the Barcelona games to see how they played and the geniuses, Iniesta and Messi. After, I tried to imitate them, but it was difficult.