A penalty is a cowardly way to score.

Another reason why I am always close to the people, because the communication is very important. When I stopped to play soccer I continued to... I continued to work with UNICEF. I did a lot of work with UNESCO. We did a lot of charity programme and games.

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.

Everything on earth is a game. A passing thing. We all end up dead. We all end up the same, don't we?

Success isn't determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you lose.

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.

I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'born' soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player