We're not great friends, but I admire him. If he thinks he's the best player of the century, that's his problem.

I've come to accept that the life of a frontrunner is a hard one, that he will suffer more injuries than most men and that many of these injuries will not be accidental.

The World Cup is a very complicated tournament - six games, seven if you make it to the final - and maybe if you lose one game you're out, even if you're the best.

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

A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders.

No doubt, I am earning more money with my endorsements than I ever earned playing soccer.

Everything is practice.