Quotes About Soccer

I've turned into a full-back who pushes forwards whereas in Italy usually the full-back concentrates more on defending.

What I do is play soccer, which is what I like.

I get very envious of my general news colleagues who are always being handed sexy new stuff like global warming, China, and Donald Trump, while my sports colleagues and I must be eternally satisfied with the same old home-court advantage, soccer, and momentum.

English Premier League is much harder and quicker, and also, the referees are totally different because in England, they don't whistle after every small contact like in Germany.

In England, the referee doesn't blow his whistle.

Football is more disputed in England than it is in Italy. Every match is a very hard match because the referee doesn't blow his whistle as much as in Italy, and every team plays against each other like it is a final.

In Germany, you can play aggressively, but the referee will always blow his whistle, but in England, that's not the case. That's better for me.

We need to learn that in the Champions League, the referees are vigilant and quick to whistle.

The Champions League has been the prime objective of my career.

Your No. 1 priority as a defender is to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

It's a dream come true to make my debut for England. It's something I always wanted to do as a young boy, and I'm sure there's thousands and thousands of kids who dream and wake up every morning thinking that's what they want to be. I feel very proud and very privileged.

I was only picking up short-term contracts in the lower leagues. I thought that rather than the game kick me out, I'd be proactive about it.

Throughout their career, the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta have all been taught to a play a certain way. English players have been taught a different way, just like Brazil have been taught a different way.

The Champions League is very difficult and you need to keep your concentration at all times.

The England manager didn't think I was good enough, and as a professional, you have to take it. Sure, it was disappointing, but all you can do is carry on playing well for your club and hope it changes. Unfortunately, it didn't.

If you come away with a 1-1 result, that's obviously a disappointing feeling. You start to look at what you could have done better.

It's disappointing to lose a game with the chance to go into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

We had an agreement with Borussia that I could leave. It didn't happen. It is a disappointment. But I'm also happy to stay.

The MLS Cup is always the goal. If we don't win that, it's always a disappointment and we haven't won. No matter how well you do in the regular season, it's always seen as a failure.

At Tottenham, we are just bombing on as wing-backs, but sometimes on the international stage, where there is so much quality, you need to be more careful about the distance between yourself and the right-sided centre-half.

I don't dive. I'm not a player who dives.

Everyone expects a lot of things from El Clasico.

Playing for the Washington Spirit, the 2013 season was one of the most difficult I have ever experienced.

Obviously, it's not the same when you play at wing-back. You don't have to defend as much. You don't get exposed in defensive situations as much as when playing as a full-back, so it is definitely different, but it is not something that it is totally alien to me.