A team is not made up of isolated individuals. Always stay in the game. Don't be passive. Football is a team game. No one plays alone. Success depends on your whole team being a single unit.

When I was playing, they said soccer was a man's world and women should remain on the sidelines, all I can say is I'm glad I never had to go up against Mia Hamm

People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never. My father and mother have closed the factory.

Football is the only sport where you put people together, it doesn't matter if you are rich, or poor, or black, or white. It is one nation. This is the beauty of football.

To be a striker you need to be in good shape.

When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play, where there is a great star. If the star is not well, the whole cast suffers.

I was born to play football, just like Beethoven was born to write music and Michelangelo was born to paint.