571 Amazing Soccer Quotes (From 30+ World Class Coaches)
One of my favorite things to do is collect soccer quotes.
Some of them are inspirational, others make you think long and hard about a specific topic, but they all provide value in some way.
Over the last few years, I've collected a long list of soccer quotes from some of the smartest soccer minds on the planet.
Today, I want to share them with you!
If you want to jump straight to a specific coach or player, use the navigation below.
But if you want to go through all 571 soccer quotes, I recommend grabbing a coffee, finding somewhere comfortable to sit, and then starting from the top.
It's a long list!
Pele Soccer Quotes
"Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man."
"Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string."
"Everything is practice."
"Success isn't determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you lose."
"Great teams are not made up of many well-rounded players. Great teams are made up of a variety of players, each having their own strengths."
“If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much because it’s the biggest sport in the world.”
"There is always someone out there getting better than you by training harder than you."
"The head talks to the heart and the heart talks to the feet."
"No individual can win a game by himself."
“I'm constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.“
“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”
“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.”
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.“
“I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, ‘Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape, with your gift from God, no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.”
“You must respect people and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.”
“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.“
“How much soccer training is it needed to become a top player? It depends on the efficiency of your training routine. Setting long and short-term goals is a must. When planning out a soccer training regime, one must strive for realistic and consistent program that will diminish specific weaknesses. Broad versatility of soccer skills is the Nirvana of every dedicated trainee.“
“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”
Diego Maradona Soccer Quotes
“When you win, you don’t get carried away. But if you go step by step, with confidence, you can go far.”
“When people succeed, it is because of hard work. Luck has nothing to do with success.”
“To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world.”
“I have 23 top players and they are all ready to put on the jersey and work on the pitch and that makes you happy and then you have peace of mind.”
“My mother thinks I am the best. And I was raised to always believe what my mother tells me.”
“I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me and no one came. I told them, 'Come hug me or the referee isn't going to allow it.'"
“The problem is that they are all stars at Madrid. You need someone to carry the water to the well.”
Sir Alex Ferguson Soccer Quotes
"Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat. And I expect us to do that."
"Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough."
"It just comes down to who wins the most 1-on-1’s. That will determine who wins the match."
"If you're going to be a footballer, be a great one. If you're going to have a dream, dream big."
“At the end of the game, you’re going to be six feet away from that trophy, and that’s the closest most of you will ever get to it. Don’t you dare come back in here without giving it 100%."
“I had to lift players’ expectations. They should never give in. I said that to them all the time: ‘If you give in once, you’ll give in twice.’”
“I’m going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V- formation but the second ones don’t fly. They’re the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over – so it’s teamwork."
“The work of a team should always embrace a great player, but the great player must always work.”
“Juventus were an example for my Manchester United. I had my players watch videos of Lippi’s team and would say: ‘Don’t look at tactics or technique, we have that too, you need to learn to have that desire to win.”
“I’ve never played for a draw in my life."
“Well, football (soccer) is a hard game; there’s no denying it. It’s a game that can bring out the worst in you, at times."
“David Beckham is Britain’s finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practices with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn’t contemplate.”
“If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.”
“In the long run principles are just more important than expediency."
“There’s a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. It’s so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.”
“There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re doing your best, and there’s even more that comes when it begins to pay off.”
“I always felt that our triumphs were an expression of the consistent application of discipline.”
“Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success.”
“You learn more from defeats than you do from victories.”
“There is no room for criticism on the training field. For a player - and for any human being - there is nothing better than hearing ‘well done’. Those are the two best words ever invented in sports. You don’t need to use superlatives.”
“The experience of defeat, or more particularly the manner in which a leader reacts to it, is an essential part of what makes a winner.”
“I like to tell different stories, and use my imagination. But generally, it is about our expectations, their belief in themselves, and their trust in each other.”
“For me, drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration, and a refusal to admit defeat.”
“Very often our victories were squeaked out in the last few minutes after we had drained the life from our opponents. Games - like life - are all about waiting for chances and then pouncing on them.”
“We had a virus that infected everyone at United. It was called winning.”
“I was always struck by the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo never chose to deface his body. It said a lot about his self-discipline.”
“Losing is a powerful management tool so long as it does not become a habit."
Sir Bobby Robson Soccer Quotes
"The first 90 minutes are the most important."
"Practice makes permanent."
"People want success. It's like coffee, they want instant."
“We don't want our players to be monks. We want them to be better football players because a monk doesn't play football at this level.”
“We didn't underestimate them. They were just a lot better than we thought.”
“There is only one word to describe football and that is 'if only'."
Sir Bobby Charlton Soccer Quotes
"Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence."
“In the sweep of its appeal, its ability to touch every corner of humanity, football is the only game that needed to be invented.”
“I think now Messi is probably done more than most players. But he is in the same class as Alfredo de Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Pelé. When he finishes and he retires, he will automatically become one of them. A player that people will talk about forever, while the game of football is as good and as popular as it is. He is a sensational player.”
“Beckham is unusual. He was desperate to be a footballer. His mind was made up when he was nine or ten. Many kids think that it's beyond them. But you can't succeed without practicing at any sport.”
Arsene Wenger Soccer Quotes
"Nobody has enough talent to live on talent alone. Even when you have talent, a life without work goes nowhere."
"If you do not believe you can do it, then you have no chance at all."
"To achieve great things you have first to believe it."
“A football team is like a beautiful woman. When you do not tell her, she forgets she is beautiful.“
“Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players. They should be encouraged to try skills without fear of falling."
“Football is an art, like dancing is an art – but only when it’s well done it becomes an art.”
“I believe in work, in connections between the players, I think what makes football great is that it is a team sport. You can win in different ways, by being more of a team, or by having better individual players. It is the team ethic that interests me, always.”
“No matter how much money you earn, you can only eat three meals a day and sleep in one bed.”
“When I arrive at the gates of Heaven the Good Lord will ask ‘what did you do in your life?’ I will respond ‘I tried to win football matches.’ He will say: ‘Are you certain that’s all?’ But, well, that’s the story of my life.”
“I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art. When you read some books they are fantastic, the writer touches something in you that you know you would not have brought out of yourself. He makes you discover something interesting in your life. If you are living like an animal, what is the point of living? What makes daily life interesting is that we try to transform it to something that is close to art.”
“When you look at people who are successful, you will find that they aren't the people who are motivated, but have consistency in their motivation.”
“The biggest things in life have been achieved by people who, at the start, we would have judged crazy. And yet if they had not had these crazy ideas the world would have been more stupid.”
“You build a player like you build a house. You start with the foundations. The fundamentals.”
“I've told him to cut off his ponytail. I think it makes him less aerodynamic.”
“I believe one of the best things about managing people is that we can influence lives in a positive way. That's basically what a manager is about. When I can do that, I am very happy.”
“Any man who concentrates his energies totally on one passion is, by definition, someone who hurts the people close to him.”
“At a young age winning is not the most important thing. The important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.”
“We played a whole season unbeaten but you did not see me every week jumping on the tables. Once it's over it's over and you do in the next one as well as you can. Plenty of managers who have won the Champions League will not be considered great managers.”
“In my job, you expect to suffer. That's why when I go to hell one day, it will be less painful for me than you, because I'm used to suffering.”
“A company works best when everybody does the job he is paid to do."
“Work on your strong points because they are what made you.”
“You cannot play for Arsenal and give up, no matter what the score is.”
“My job is to give people who work hard all week something to enjoy on Saturdays and Wednesdays.”
“As a coach you can influence the diet of your players. You can point out what is wrong.“
“It's silly to work hard the whole week and then spoil it by not preparing properly before the game.”
“I am in a job where you always look in front of you. Unfortunately, the older you get, the less distance there is in front of you.”
“We don't sign superstars, we make them.”
“The moral values I've learnt in my life I've learnt through football."
“One of the things I discovered in Japan was from watching sumo wrestling. At the end you can never tell who has won the fight, and who has lost, because they do not show their emotion because it could embarrass the loser. It is unbelievable. That is why I try to teach my team politeness. It is only here in England that everybody pokes their tongue out when they win.”
Johan Cruyff Soccer Quotes
"Choose the best players for every position and you’ll end up not with a strong 11, but with 11 strong 1’s."
"If you have the ball you must make the field as big as possible. If you don’t have the ball you must make it as small as possible."
"Football is simple but the hardest thing to do is play simple football."
"There are many people who can say that a team is playing badly. There are few people who can say why they’re playing badly."
“To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent.“
“What is speed? Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster.“
“You have got to shoot, otherwise you can't score."
“Without the ball, you can't win.“
“On average a player has a ball for 3 minutes in a game. It's what you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines whether you're a good player or not.“
“Why couldn't you beat a richer club? I've never seen a bag of money score a goal.“
“Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins.“
“Every disadvantage has its advantage.“
“Players that aren't true leaders but try to be, always bash other players after a mistake. True leaders on the pitch already assume others will make mistakes.“
“Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1,000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your teammate.”
“I’m ex-player, ex-technical director, ex-coach, ex-manager, ex-honorary president. A nice list that once again shows that everything comes to an end.”
“There’s only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you’re not there, you’re either too early or too late.”
“There is only one ball, so you need to have it.”
“I find it terrible when talents are rejected based on computer stats. Based on the criteria at Ajax now I would have been rejected. When I was 15, I couldn’t kick a ball 15 meters with my left and maybe 20 with my right. My qualities technique and vision, are not detectable by a computer.”
“Football is about having the best offensive play possible. I always like to play offensive football, and nobody will convince me otherwise.”
“You play football with your head, your legs are there to help you.”
“Playing against 10 is harder than playing against 11 players. You know why? The team with 11 will think ‘Ok, we can take it easy now’, while the team with 10 will think ‘We really have to work hard now’.”
“After you’ve won something, you’re no longer 100 percent, but 90 percent. It’s like a bottle of carbonated water where the cap is removed for a short while. Afterwards there’s a little less gas inside.”
“There are very few players who know what to do when they’re not marked. So sometimes you tell a player: that attacker is very good, but don’t mark him.”
“I felt sorry for the match ball - it came off the pitch crying”
“I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked."
“In my teams, the striker is the first defender and the goalie is the first attacker.“
“If my forward arrives in a one vs one situation, I always say: 'let him work it out.' Then my players say: But we can help him!'. My reply is: First, there's a good chance you'll only run in his way, and as a second attacker you're drawing a second defender with you, and two vs two is harder than one vs one.'”
“You need both quality and results. Results without quality is boring; quality without results is meaningless.”
“It is better to fail with your own vision than to fail with another man's vision.”
“Every trainer talks about movement, about running a lot. I say don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brain. You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late.”
“The hardest thing about an easy match is making a weak opponent play poor. A poor player isn't poor because he tends to kick the ball in his own goal. It's because when you put intense pressure on him, he loses control. So you have to increase the tempo of the game and he'll automatically give the ball away.”
“Before I make a mistake, I don't make that mistake.”
“If you can't win, make sure you don't lose.”
“We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You'll get it back in no time."
“I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw.”
“In small space a player has to be capable of acting quickly. A good player who needs too much time can suddenly become a poor player.”
“The most difficult thing about an easy match is to make a weak opponent play bad football.”
“I still have a lot of room for improvement.”
Franz Beckenbauer Soccer Quotes
“It is not the strong one that wins, the one that wins is strong.”
“Possession means nothing when the opponent takes its chances.”
"Penalty shooting is always an uncertain affair because there is a lot of luck involved."
“Football is one of the world's best means of communication. It is impartial, apolitical, and universal. Football unites people around the world every day. Young or old, players or fans, rich or poor, the game makes everyone equal, stirs the imagination, makes people happy and makes them sad.”
“As someone who played a team sport, I feel a bit uncomfortable being ranked as an individual so high.”
“The trouble for today's footballers is they have too many distractions. We used to get our old players coming to watch training with football magazines in their hands. Now, more often than not, they are checking the share prices.”
“There's only one possibility: win, draw, or lose.”
Juan Manuel Lillo Soccer Quotes
"I understand clearly why coaches are fired: for losing. I still don't understand why we are hired. It is a mystery like that of Coca Cola."
"Whoever knows only football doesn't even know anything about football."
"It is now much more important in football what happens from Monday to Friday. What happens on Sunday matters less every time."
"Football is a sport you play with the most disobedient part of the body: the foot."
"The closer you get to the goal, the further you get from a goal."
"What would I have been if I hadn't dedicated myself to football? You are asking me to tell what I would have been if I couldn't have been what I wanted to be."
"The things that are valuable don't have a price, and the things that have a price don't have a value."
"My 27 years of coaching have allowed me to know that you don't need to open your mouth for them to hit you there."
Bill Shankly Soccer Quotes
"If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be."
“Football (soccer) is a matter of life and death, except more important."
"If you are first, you are first. If you are second, you are nothing."
"A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe that you are the best and then make sure that you are."
“Some people think football (soccer) is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.“
“A football team is like a piano. You need eight men to carry it and three who can play the damn thing.”
“Football is a simple game based on the giving and taking of passes, of controlling the ball, and of making yourself available to receive a pass. It is terribly simple.”
“Aim for the sky and you’ll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you’ll stay on the floor.”
“Pressure is working down the pit. Pressure is having no work at all. Pressure is trying to escape relegation on 50 shillings a week. Pressure is not the European Cup or the Championship or the Cup Final. That’s the reward.”
“The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.”
“It's a 90 minute game for sure. In fact I used to train for a 190 minute game so that when the whistle blew at the end of the match I could have played another 90 minutes.”
“If you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win”
“At a football club, there's a holy trinity - the players, the manager, and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the checks.”
Brian Clough Soccer Quotes
“Saturday comes again, welcome or not, it comes again like it always does, welcome or not, wanted or not, another judgment day - The chance to be saved, the chance to be damned."
“If I had a disagreement with a player, we would sit down for 20 minutes, talk about it, and then decide I was right.”
“We had a good team on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on grass.”
“They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but I wasn't on that particular job.”
“We used to go to the pictures every Saturday night but we had to leave a little bit early and get home and watch Match of the Day - and my wife still complains she missed the last five minutes of every film we saw.”
Jose Mourinho Soccer Quotes
"You have to work hard and well. There are a lot of people who work hard but not well."
"I hate to speak about individuals. Players don't win you trophies, teams win trophies. Squads win trophies."
“Fear is not a word in my football dictionary.“
“The only thing that we cannot control is our supporters."
“I know all about the ups and downs of football, I know that one day I will be sacked.“
“Football is a game about feelings and intelligence.“
“Look, we’re not entertaining? I don’t care, we win.“
“You can have the top stars to bring the attention, you can have the best stadium, you can have the best facilities, you can have the most beautiful project in terms of marketing and all this kind of thing. But if you don’t win, all the work these people are doing is forgotten.“
“I won't say we have to win, I won't put that pressure. But we can't lose.“
“I would rather play with 10 men than wait for a player who is late for the bus.”
“Work hard to get good, then work harder to get better."
“In my teams, when we win, we all win, and when we lose, I lose.”
“To be the ultimate team, you must use your body and your mind. Draw upon the resources of your teammates. Choose your steps wisely and you will win. Remember, only teams succeed.”
“It is like when you go to war: we have to know how our enemies attack and defend.”
“A great pianist doesn't run around the piano or do push-ups with his fingers. To be great, he plays the piano. Being a footballer is not about running, push-ups, or physical work generally. The best way to be a great footballer is to play.”
“If a player is not performing, there are two ways of looking at it. You wait for performance to come, or maybe the moment has arrived where you have to change. I could go either way.”
“It’s not important how we play. If you have a Ferrari and I have a small car, to beat you in a race I have to break your wheel or put sugar in your tank."
"You win by effort, by commitment, by ambition, by quality, by expressing yourself individually but in the team context."
“You are pushed to behave differently here, you don't really have a choice. If you cheat you have no chance of being admired. Even your own supporters will dislike you. So what do you do? Well, the way is not to be stupid, but not to cheat either. If there is a foul, you have to fall. I call it 'helping the referee to make a decision'. That's not cheating.”
“Like me or not, I am the only one who has won the world's three most important leagues. So, maybe instead of the 'Special One', people should start calling me the 'Only One'.”
“There is no pressure at the top. The pressure is being second or third.”
“If I had wanted to be protected in a quiet job, I could have stayed at Porto. I would have been second, after God, in the eyes of the fans even if I had never won another thing.”
“With all the stones being thrown against me you could build a monument!”
“If Roman Abramovich helped me out in training we would be bottom of the league and if I had to work in his world of big business, we would be bankrupt!"
“Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is poor people in the world trying to feed their families. There is no pressure in football”
Gary Curneen Soccer Quotes
"First basic step to a successful training program: Every day, attempt to do more of what really matters and less of what doesn’t."
"Difference between a hobby and a passion: Is a player willing to do extra work in addition to team practices? Becoming the single biggest separator today."
"When you focus on what you can't control you get excuses. When you focus on what you can control you get results."
"If your best player is also your hardest worker, your team has a real chance to be successful."
"Little things generally drive the big things. Over time a players diet, company they keep, time they dedicate to learning/improving become much more important than their talent levels."
"On poor teams, captains lead by popularity. On great teams, captains lead by example. They arrive early, stay late, train hard, and apply the same high standards off the field."
"Coaching is not about proving your knowledge. It's about constantly improving your ability to deliver it."
"If a coach's only focus is results, they will often lose emotional control. The best coaches attack the problems, not the players."
"Holding players accountable is uncomfortable. But having players fail because you won't coach, confront, or correct them, is unacceptable."
"So important young players learn to get basics right. If technical skills are poor, getting stronger simply makes you stronger at delivering poor skills."
"Building a culture is more about subtraction than addition. Must get rid of excuses, comfort zones, and negativity before you add anything."
"Players on the bench have two choices: Sit and do nothing. Or stay mentally engaged. You may not be physically connected to the game, but you should always be emotionally connected to it."
"Lazy players do a little work and think that they should be winning. Winners work their socks off and still worry that they're being lazy."
"It's not arguments or direct confrontations that destroy team chemistry. It's the conversations that don't actually happen... the assumptions, whispers and people staying in their own corner. That's what kills teams."
"No tactical system in the world can compensate for flaws in work ethic or the basics. Every training session should communicate that to players."
Jurgen Klopp Soccer Quotes
"My father gave me some advice when I was very young - whatever someone tells you in the future, don't forget Pele is the best."
"You cannot win without tactical things but the emotion makes the difference."
“I have only one understanding of development and of making success, and that's by going step by step.”
“It needs time. Nobody wants to hear it, but that's the truth: if you want to have success in the future, you have to be ready to work now.”
“If you watch me during the game, I celebrate when we press the ball and it goes out.”
“When you play sports like tennis, you're alone, and that's a good school for life, but it's also a good school for life to bring your best and make those around you better too - helping others in difficult moments.”
“You can celebrate big wins together, go through big defeats together, but between these things you have to play football people want to talk about.”
“I told my players during the break: Since we’re here anyway, we might actually play a bit of football.”
“We want to attack the opponent non-stop when we have the ball, when we lose it, and when the opposition have it. Put another way, defending is our first offensive action.”
“The fans should not only recognise us by our black and yellow jerseys. Even if we play in red, everyone in the stadium should think: 'Who, that can only be BVB'. When you sit in this stadium with your eyes closed, you should sense there is a passionate team on the field below.”
“We have a bow and arrow and if we aim well, we can hit the target. The problem is that Bayern has a bazooka. But then apparently Robin Hood was quite successful.”
Antonio Conte Soccer Quotes
"I prefer to be a great team not only on paper, but also on the pitch. The pitch is the truth. The pitch speaks."
"My talent as a footballer was medium. But I had heart, a will to win, to work to overcome my limitations."
"When you lose, you learn a lot about yourself. That experience is important."
"I must make the best decision for the club, not for a single player."
"When the technique doesn't arrive at the best level, arrive with your heart, with head, with enthusiasm, with passion, with work."
"I adapt my idea of football to my players, not adapt my players in my idea of football. It's important because there are other players that must play. The players are the most important things in football. I adapt my idea within my players."
"In my team, I don't want selfish players. I prefer to lose a game than have selfish players. I don't want that in my club. Never."
"Our target is to win, not to try to make all the players happy."
"Every coach, when starting work at a new club, hopes to stay for many, many years because it means you are working very well. You have the possibility to improve your players, to improve your team, and to grow together."
"I try to avoid all mistakes. I try to prepare my players to put them in the best condition to play the game. If you discover a problem during the game, it's too late. You must anticipate and prepare."
Pep Guardiola Soccer Quotes
"If you train badly, you play badly. If you work like a beast in training, you play the same way."
"I will forgive if the players cannot get it right, but not if they do not try hard."
“That’s the beauty of sport. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry.”
“We always try to win until the very end. If we don’t, we congratulate the opponent. That’s what sports is about.”
“I am not dealing with footballers, I am dealing with people. They have fears and worry about failing and making fools of themselves in front of 80,000 people. I have to make them see that without each other they are nothing.”
“I sit down and watch videos. I take notes. That's when that inspiration comes - the moment that makes sense of my profession. The instant I know, for sure, that I've got it. I know how to win. It's the moment that my job becomes truly meaningful.”
“The timing needed to go past someone, that instant in which you catch out your opponent, when you go past him and a new scenario opens up before you. Dribbling is, at heart, a trick, a con. It's not speed. It's not physique. It's an art.”
“If there isn't a sequence of 15 previous passes, a good transition between attack and defence is impossible. Impossible."
“Iniesta doesn't dye his hair, he doesn't wear earrings and he hasn't got any tattoos. Maybe that makes him unattractive to the media but he is the best.”
“I want the ball for 90 minutes. When I don't have the ball, I go high pressing because I want the ball.”
“It's natural for players to be relaxed, so you have to be there to say, 'You have to do it again and again and again.'”
“People say, 'Pep won in Barca, but it was boring,' or, 'Pep won in Bayern, but it was boring.' I understand that. But games won, goals scored, goals conceded, titles... Sorry, guys, it was good!”
More From Us: 13 Soccer Coaching Lessons From Pep Guardiola
Zinedine Zidane Soccer Quotes
“I have a need to play intensely every day, to fight every match hard.”
"I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet."
“The door can never be closed for good to any player.”
“If you are determined and confident, there is nothing in this great existence that can stop you from achieving what you want.”
“When your own fans whistle and jeer, then you have a big problem.”
“Everything I have achieved in football is due to playing football in the streets with my friends."
“We must not let ourselves get driven off course, no matter what happens we must stick to our natural game.”
Zdeněk Zeman Soccer Quotes
"There are many coaches today who only manage, without trying to improve their players. It is the players who make the coach."
"I expect every player to give the best he can. If we don’t win, no drama, it is enough for me that the kids have given their best."
"It doesn't matter how long you run, but where and why you run."
“There is nothing dishonourable in coming last, if you do so with dignity.
“People go to the stadium because they want to see a spectacle, but there are games where you fall asleep. With my teams, that never happens.”
“This sport is hugely popular not because of big businesses or pharmacies but because in every corner of the world there is a child having fun with a football.”
“Sometimes the losers have taught more than the winners. I like to think I’ve given something more and something different to football.”
Diego Simeone Soccer Quotes
“I don’t believe much in luck. I believe more in work, in convincing, in stubbornness, and in capacity.”
“We are nothing more or less than what we choose to reveal.”
“The war is won by the man who best uses his soldiers.”
“Effort is non-negotiable.”
“As a player it is easy. You only think of yourself. The coach has to think of everything.”
“We aspire to be an annoying team.”
“We play every game as if it were our last.”
“Games aren’t won by those who play well, but by those who play safe.”
“Effort is the magic that makes success.”
“I enjoy winning titles, but that is the past, we must look forward.”
“My parents raised me to play football like a soldier.”
“I believe in working individually with players. If I see improvement, that is the most important title.”
“I believe in order first of all and above all. Order is a way of life.”
“As in the great battles, the best doesn’t always win, the most convincing does.”
“I prefer playing well to playing pretty.”
Brendan Rogers Soccer Quotes
"I’ve always said that you can live without water for many days, but you can’t live for a second without hope."
"That ability to press immediately, within five or six seconds to get the ball, is important."
"The best players want to play in the best competition."
"I started coaching for one reason. To make a difference for people, not just as footballers, but as human beings."
“My biggest mentor is myself, because I’ve had to study, so that’s been my biggest influence.”
“Statistics and numbers are no good unless you have good people to analyse and then interpret their meaning and importance.”
“I'd rather lose a game trying to win it, than lose it trying not to get beat.”
“Status does not matter. It is what you are like as a player. It doesn't matter how much money you have come for. That doesn't matter to me. I will play a 17-year-old if he fights and he has quality. It is quite easy.”
“My template for everything is organisation. With the ball you have to know the movement patterns, the rotation, the fluidity and positioning of the team. When we have the football everybody's a player.”
Ronaldinho Soccer Quotes
“I have the chance to do for a living what I like the most in life, and that’s playing football. I can make people happy and enjoy myself at the same time.” - Ronaldinho
“Football (soccer) is about joy. It’s about dribbling. I favour every idea that makes the game beautiful. Every good idea has to last.”
"God gives gifts to everyone, some can write, some can dance. He gave me the skill to play football and I am making the most of it."
“My heroes were always soccer players.”
"I learned all about life with a ball at my feet."
“If you’re playing for five hours you don’t want to score goals all the time and I loved dribbling. I could score a goal, but I preferred to dribble.”
“My only concern is playing. Everything else, my family looks after. In our house, everyone has a job, and my job in our house is to play soccer."
"Our confidence comes from our preparation."
“I come from a family where soccer has always been very present. My uncles, my father, and my brother were all players.”
"It is not just about the money, it is about what you achieve on the pitch."
“For me soccer provides so many emotions, a different feeling every day.”
“My game is based on improvisation. Often, a forward does not have the time to think too much. You have a second, rarely more, to decide whether to dribble, shoot or pass to the right or left. It is instinct that gives the orders.”
Lionel Messi Soccer Quotes
"The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instincts."
"I still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, I want to shoot equally well with both feet."
"You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it."
"There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game."
"I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I’m not enjoying it, I will leave football."
"I never think about the play or visualise anything. I do what comes to me at that moment. Instinct. It has always been that way."
“Whether it’s a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game - I play the same. I’m always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans, and to try and win.”
“In football (soccer) as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision.”
"I'm never satisfied. I always push my limits and I always try to get better every day."
"At Barca we trained every day with the ball. I hardly even took a step running without a ball at my feet."
“I’m lucky to be part of a team who help to make me look good, and they deserve as much of the credit for my success as I do for the hard work we have all put in on the training ground.”
"There is no need to run all the time. I know what to do and I wait for my moment."
“I have many years to get better and better, and that has to be my ambition. The day you think there is no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player."
"We are at a good level. Our secret is that we play the same way against each opponent."
“It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.“
“What I do is play soccer, which is what I like.”
“I always want more. Whether it’s a goal, or winning a game, I’m never satisfied.”
“Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits, and get on with trying to win.”
Cristiano Ronaldo Soccer Quotes
“Winning - that’s the most important to me. It’s as simple as that."
"I don't want to tell my dreams, I want to show them."
"If you think you're perfect already, then you never will be."
"I’m living a dream I never want to wake up from."
“I have my flaws too, but I am a professional who doesn’t like to miss or lose.”
"Dreams are not what you see in your sleep, dreams are things which do not let you sleep."
“I want to consistently play well and win titles. I’m only at the beginning.”
"I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans, but also to be satisfied with myself."
“I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans, but also to feel satisfied with myself. It is my conviction that there are no limits to learning, and that it can never stop, no matter what our age.”
“Talent without working hard is nothing.”
“I see myself as the best footballer in the world. If you don’t believe you are the best, then you will never achieve all that you are capable of.”
“Without football (soccer), my life is worth nothing.”
“Every season is a new challenge to me, and I always set out to improve in terms of games, goals, assists.”
“In football, I don’t have a lot of friends. The people who I really trust, there are not many. Most of the time, I’m alone.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Soccer Quotes
"We usually say that you cannot become a legend before death. But I am a living legend."
“When you buy me you are buying a Ferrari.”
“Messi does not need his right foot. He only uses the left and he's still the best in the world. Imagine if he also used his right foot, then we would have a serious problem.”
“I was like, 'No way, Zlatan doesn't do auditions'. "I thought 'You either know me or you don't and if you don't know me you can't really want me'.”
"Only God knows. You’re talking to him now."
“I can play in all 11 positions because a good player can play anywhere.”
“I don't think that you can score as spectacular a goal as those of Zlatan in a video game - even though these games are very realistic these days.”
“What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”
“First I went left, he did too. Then I went right, and he did too. Then I went left again, and he went to buy a hot dog.”
“An injured Zlatan is a properly serious thing for any team.”
“I do not need a trophy to tell myself that I am the best.”
“I had time with my mother, but I really lived with my father. One time he gave all his salary so I could travel to a training camp. He couldn't pay the rent, but he did that.”
“Anything that happens in your life was meant to happen. It is your destiny. It was my destiny to have the life I have now, and I can’t have any regrets.”
“Nothing is written in stone, as a career is an unpredictable journey.”
David Beckham Soccer Quotes
"The secret to my success is practice."
“My private life is perfect. If your private life and your life outside football is good, then it is good on the field for you.”
“Soccer is a magical game."
"I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer and someone who is passionate about the game."
"I have always believed that if you want to achieve anything special in life you have to work, work, and then work some more."
"I don’t have time for hobbies. At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby. It’s something I love doing."
“As a footballer (soccer player), you always want to test yourself against the best.”
"You will go through tough times, it's about getting through them."
“It’s not about the name on the back of the jersey, it’s about the badge on the front.”
“We stay as a team. I might be England captain, but that doesn’t mean I get treated differently.”
“I love scoring goals for England and playing for England. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t retire. I love playing for my country.”
“I’m a very stubborn person. I think it has helped me over my career. I’m sure it has hindered me at times as well, but not too many times. I know that if I set my mind to do something, even if people are saying I can’t do it, I will achieve it.”
Thierry Henry Soccer Quotes
“To be a footballer was just a dream, and I don’t believe in dreams. I only deal in what is real. To be honest, I’ve never thought about what I could get out of football or where it would take me. I just wanted to play. I’m the same now.”
“I eat football, I sleep football, I breathe football. I am not mad, I am just passionate.“
“I always think about what I missed, and I think that was my driving force - never be satisfied with what I’ve done."
“My dad always taught me to never be satisfied: to want more and know that what is done is done. That was his way of seeing the game.”
“What makes the difference between a great player and just a normal player is dedication, work, commitment.”
“Average soccer players complicate the game, great players simplify it."
Xavi Soccer Quotes
“You pressure, you want possession, you want to attack. Some teams can’t or don’t pass the ball. What are you playing for? What’s the point? That’s not football. Combine, pass, play. That’s football – for me, at least.”
“There are two types of football – there’s physical football and football talent.”
“In football, the result is an impostor. You can do things really, really well but not win. There's something greater than the result, more lasting - a legacy.”
“I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I’m always between the opposition’s two holding midfielders and thinking, ‘The defence is here, so I get the ball and I go there to where the space is.”
“There is always someone free. Always. You know why? Because there is always the solution to give the ball to the goalkeeper. When the match begins, we are eleven against eleven, but when you have the ball, there are ten of you that want to take it, not eleven. There is always a free man.”
Wayne Rooney Soccer Quotes
"I just hate losing and that gives you an extra determination to work harder."
“I play the game as honestly as I can. If the referee gives a penalty there is nothing you can do.”
“As you get older you play in more important games and that is when you start thinking about what will happen if you win or lose.”
“Football is made up of all kinds of conflict. In a dressing room, between players, between us and the manager, between us and loads of people who don’t seem to matter. It’s constant and harsh sometimes.”
“I love football so when I finish playing I would like to still be involved in it somehow and a manager would be my first choice.”
“I love football, I’ve never really taken an interest in anything else.”
“I train as hard as I can every time I train and I do extra training every day. And I’ve done that since I was a young boy.”
“You just want to keep playing consistently now and keep working hard and I’m sure the goals will come.”
“There are many ways to grow football-wise. You go slow or are pushed to go faster, otherwise you get left behind. For me, there would be trouble in stopping learning.”
“I love football, football is my life.”
“If you don’t score, and you have chances, you are disappointed.”
“Sometimes you have to rest in certain games, but I want to play in every game.”
“I’ve trained all my life. I’ve always been one who enjoys training so it’s not something that I think I can just stop doing. It might not be as regular but I want to keep training.”
Mia Hamm Soccer Quotes
"True champions aren't always the ones that win, but those with the most guts."
"I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."
"Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it."
"Sports can do so much. It's given me confidence, self-esteem, discipline, and motivation."
"Every single day I wake up and commit to myself to becoming a better player."
"Many people say I’m the best women’s soccer player in the world. I don’t think so. And because of that, someday I just might be."
“Take your victories, whatever they might be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.”
“I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.”
“If a team wants to intimidate you physically and you let them, they’ve won.”
“You can’t just beat a team. You have to leave a lasting impression in their minds so they never want to see you again.”
“The vision of a champion is someone bent over, drenched in sweat, to a point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”
“Soccer isn’t very social. Plus, if you don’t like someone on the other team, you can do something about it.”
Alex Morgan Soccer Quotes
"Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it's never really over until the whistle blows."
"Everybody has a talent, but its what you do with that talent to make it great."
"Dream big, because dreams do happen."
"Excuses are like losses. Everyone has them except champions."
"Never stop working on your passing. You will never be too good."
"Talent may get you on the pitch, but it’s the effort and attitude that will keep you there."
“Keep working even when no one is watching.”
“Teammates are critical to your success. The reality is no matter how good you are, you can’t score if they don’t pass you the ball, you can’t win if they don’t stop the other team.”
“Whatever brings you down, will eventually make you stronger."
“I want to keep improving, continue to help my teammates improve, make my teammates look good. Continue bringing something new to the game, never getting completely content and always trying to get better.”
“Get to know and establish relationships with your teammates because they are your new family and they will be the ones there for you when anything goes wrong.”
“The way I've been brought up is to take critiques and turn them into positives in my game.”
Abby Wambach Soccer Quotes
"You can do as many sprints as you want but there's nothing like playing in a 90-minute soccer game. There's no better way to gain your fitness, in my opinion, than playing in consistent games."
"To watch people push themselves further than they think they can, it’s a beautiful thing."
“You must not only have competitiveness but the ability, regardless of the circumstances you face, to never quit.”
“Sometimes there are no second chances, no next time. Sometimes it’s now or never.”
“As soon as I started to realise that I could make a living playing professional soccer, I went to that place where I could torture myself because I knew it would make me better for the championship game.”
“As professional soccer players, we take our bodies to the extreme. We’re the people at the gym that look like we’re breaking the machines. Pushing our bodies to the limits is what makes us so strong and capable and Olympians. It’s not an easy thing to consistently do over and over again to your body."
Brandi Chastain Soccer Quotes
"You have to be willing to accept the information, you have to be willing to work hard. You have to be motivated to go to practice with an open mind. You have to be willing to be criticised. Only you can do those things."
“And then ultimately what I tell the kids is: coaches can give you information, they can give you guidelines, and they can put you in a position. But the only person who can truly make you better is you.”
“You'll be dedicated and that's what you should want to be in anything in life - whether it's sports or academics or your relationship. It all stems from finding that fun, that thrill, that excitement.”
“Well there are two things: Number one is, make sure you always enjoy yourself, because when you enjoy yourself, you'll learn, you'll want more information, you'll push yourself.”
“Soccer has given me a place to express myself, fully and openly. To not be shy. To feel. To be crazy. To try things I might not try. To be honest in relationships. To make mistakes and realise that they're not life-shattering.”
“So along with that is spending a lot of time with the ball. For me it was, I loved to juggle the ball in my front yard, and I always challenged myself - how many juggles can I get today? I think for players to get better, it's just about spending the time.”
“We are shaping young kids to be leaders in their communities and also to be healthier.”
“I think there are a lot of things that soccer does in the communities that transcend the soccer field.”
“I think soccer is more respected now than it ever has been. You can see that in the numbers of young kids who are playing and the numbers of people who are coming to watch.”
“To be honest with you, I never looked at soccer as a sacrifice.”
Carli Lloyd Soccer Quotes
"If you want to be a professional soccer player, if you want to make the national team, you have to do everything possible to work hard. You've got to put it number one."
"The harder you work and the more prepared you are for something, you're going to be able to persevere through anything."
“You can always have energy, give great effort, and have good attitude.”
“The player you are destined to be is the player you decide to be.”
“Your passion and dedication can’t be some-time, part-time, half-time or spare-time, it has to be all-time.”
“It’s not what I did the morning of, or the day before the game. It was 12 years of preparation.”
“Nothing in life is worthwhile unless it's kind of hard to get there.”
“You can be angry and pissed off at the coach and put your head down and pout. Or you can rise above it, respect the decision, but also know that you're going to go and work that much harder and prove everybody wrong. And that's the road that I chose.”
“There's no reason that young girls shouldn't feel like they can't smash people on the field. Nothing dirty. You want to keep it clean. You just want to play hard. Get your jersey dirty, shorts dirty, and just have fun out there.”
“I'm hearing in youth sports where you're not allowed to post scores of games online; everybody's gotta get a trophy. I mean, that's ridiculous. If you're a winner, you're a winner and you get a trophy. If you got second place, you don't get anything.”
“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't human and tears weren't rolling down my face and I wasn't pissed and I wasn't angry. There are lots of times that those emotions come out in my career.”
Hope Solo Soccer Quotes
"I couldn't have been a great goalkeeper without power, agility, and quickness."
“I've learned that winning isn't everything, and it's more about the journey. But at the end of the day, I just want to stand on the podium with the gold medal.”
“I don't need a captain's band to lead a team to victory."
“One thing I've learned through all the ups and downs is that if you're doing things right, then you have a core group of people. Not just a core group like your homies or your buddies, but a group of people that has a good influence on you, who you respect and admire, and you know that if they're on your side, you're doing something right.”
“We all fall. The key is knowing how to rise.“
“I am pushed by my critics. I don't want to say I want to prove them wrong, but it pushes me on the field to play with a chip on my shoulder, and I play best when I have a chip on my shoulder.”
“Being responsible and taking care of your body is truly how you make your pay cheque, how you excel and succeed in your lifelong goals, so for me it's just an everyday lifestyle.”
“I hate the cliche of 'just have fun,' but what I've seen in today's sports, especially with parents, is they put so much pressure on the kids.”
Miscellaneous Soccer Quotes
"If you want to score a goal, you have to hit the target." - Fabio Capello
"Every time I went away I was deceiving my mum. I’d tell her I was going to school but I’d be out on the street playing football. I always had a ball on my feet." - Ronaldo
"The secret is to believe in your dreams; in your potential that you can be like your star, keep searching, keep believing and don’t lose faith in yourself." - Neymar
"If you’re attacking, you don’t get as tired as when you’re chasing." - Kyle Rote, Jr.
"The thing about football... the important thing about football... is that it is not just about football." - Sir “Terry” Pratchett
"In Europe, it’s different – you eat soccer, you breathe soccer, you drink soccer. Everything is about soccer." - Thomas Dooley
"Whoever invented football should be worshipped as a God." - Hugo Sanchez
"If you’re in the penalty area and don’t know what to do with the ball, put it in the net and we’ll discuss the options later." - Bob Paisley
"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail." - Roy Keane
"I played on the boy's teams until I was 12. I just loved it and had a passion for it. You couldn't get a soccer ball away from my foot." - Lauren Holiday
"The playmakers need to read the game and need to be on the same page as the defenders and the forwards." - Guus Hiddink
"If you don’t live, eat, breathe, football, then you’re not a true football player. You just wear the jersey." - Sergio Ramos
"Being a goalkeeper is like being the guy in the military who makes the bombs - one mistake and everyone gets blown up." - Artur Boruc
"I had a certain system at penalties, I always watched the goalkeeper." - Thomas Muller
"In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball." – Nelson Rodrigues
"I don't believe skill was, or ever will be the result of coaches. It's a result of a love affair between the child and the ball." - Roy Keane
"If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters." - Michael Owen
"No-one remembers the losers. You’ve got to get your hands on that trophy." - Roy Keane
"All good athletes make mistakes; the great ones learn to make that mistake only once." - Raul Lopez
"Football is played with the head. Your feet are just the tools." - Andrea Pirlo
"I go into games saying they don’t know me before, I want them to know me after the game." - Jermaine Jones
"The most important thing for a forward is speed of thought. Top players read the game." – Samuel Eto'o
"Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought." - Dennis Bergkamp
"Players taught to watch the man with the ball leaves them totally unprepared for the next move, which is always dictated by a player without the ball." - Tommy Docherty
"I was always taught as a kid if you do something, do it right. If not, go do something else. For me, soccer was life." - Marcelo Balboa
"There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true." - Neymar Santos
"I know my place at Everton and I knew my place at Sligo. I spoke when I was spoken to. I was a young kid who was just trying to do well. Nowadays, some young lads are too much the other way. I don’t agree with kids who haven’t done much in the game being ahead of themselves. It’s not me and I don’t like to see it. I was always someone who respected every manager." - Seamus Coleman
"I don’t see how people can tell someone that’s sixteen years old they are not good enough or they are good enough when they still have another five years of growing time. Who knows if that’s the age their best ability is going to come out." - Jamie Vardy
"Believe me, you need good people if you want to make good players." - Gordon Strachan
"If you can't pass the ball properly, a bowl of pasta's not going to make that much difference!" - Harry Redknapp
"I'm a footballer, I don't think past next Saturday." - Joleon Lescott
"Mental strength is what separates champions from near champions." - Rafael da Silva
"We care about how many players you develop rather than how many trophies you win." - Claudio Reyna
"Anyone who sacrifices his dreams to reality is forever beaten." - Thomas Mueller
"I was always taught as a kid if you do something, do it right. If not, go do something else. For me, soccer was life." - Marcelo Balboa
"There should be no prima donnas on a team, everyone should feel important, from the oldest player to the youngest." - Marcello Lippi
"I will not pick players on reputation alone." - Marcello Lippi
"In his life, a man can change wives, political parties or religions but he cannot change his favourite soccer team." - Eduardo Galeano
"I'm attracted to soccer's capacity for beauty. When well played, the game is a dance with a ball." - Eduardo Galeano
"The wonderful thing about soccer is, a football is a perfectly round object, and it doesn't make mistakes. The player using it makes mistakes. And the more you use it, the less mistakes you make." - Craig Johnston
"Everything starts with a belief, and if you don’t believe, you might as well not play football." - Robin van Persie
"I play in a position that demands hard work and generosity and little glamour, but I like it. It’s my job and I like it. I would rather intercept and steal 10 balls than shoot. That’s what I’m here for, to make everyone else’s jobs easier." - Sergio Busquets
“It’s too easy to blame other people in football.” - Steven Gerrard
“If you don’t play well, you have a bad game or a nightmare you know that the amount of coverage is worldwide.” - Steven Gerrard
“In football, the hero and legend status is given out far too easily for me.” - Steven Gerrard
“Football is the most important of the less important things in the world.” - Carlo Ancelotti
“The difference between players is not always the quality but their mentality.” - Carlo Ancelotti
"Football (soccer) is not played on paper, it is played on a pitch. This game is not mathematics and in football, two plus two very rarely equals four - it's usually three or five." - Leo Beenhakker
"I think it's important to know what you're going to do with the ball before it comes to you. So you're always thinking beforehand and when the ball comes to you to can make the pass straight away." - Rafael van der Vaart
"Not a single player is as good as the sum of a team." - Alfredo Di Stefano
"The mistake is to imagine that perfection is possible when the very idea is unthinkable." - Luis Figo
"There’s no better feeling than stepping out on the field and stunning them all by doing what none of them thought you could do." - Ashlyn Harris
"Although some roles hold less glory, they are no less important." - Becky Sauerbrunn
"Goals prevented are just as important as goals scored. If the other team can’t score, we can’t lose." - Julie Johnston
“The best team leaders are: 1. First to practice. 2. First to meetings. 3. First to focus in. 4. First to speak up. 5. First to step up.” - Gary Curneen
“When I score, I don't celebrate. It's my job, does a postman celebrate when he delivers post?“ - Mario Balotelli
“The ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.“ - Josef “Sepp” Herberger
“Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.“ - Gary Lineker
“You don’t have to have been a horse to be a jockey.“ - Arrigo Sacchi
“A champion is someone who does not settle for that day’s practice, that day’s competition, that day’s performance. They are always striving to be better. They don’t live in the past.“ - Briana Scurry
“Soccer is a simple game, it’s the players that make it complicated.“ - Willie Watson
“I think players tend to get anxious if they've not really done things properly - like eating, resting or training. If you're fully prepared you've got nothing to worry about - it's just a game of football.” - Roy Keane
“Football is about dreams, about feeling a special sensation, giving a surprise and inspiring joy.” - Claudio Ranieri
“I had a lot of times with Wales as well when we were getting beat – and beaten well – and you learn to deal with it. You learn that next time it happens, you roll your sleeves up and give everything for the team.” - Gary Speed
“To any young kid who wants to be a footballer, I would simply say: Have fun playing football and enjoy the team spirit. That’s the right attitude that will bring you pleasure and fulfillment in football. A baker cannot live on bread he made yesterday, and a footballer cannot live on his last game. It’s about the here and now.” - Jurgen Klinsmann
“Every game, every play-off, everything you do, it's an experience. You learn from the positive experiences, but also from the negative ones. I think this is a different and unique moment. We have to enjoy it as an opportunity to keep improving.” - Unai Emery
“When I was growing up, you didn’t know there was a women’s national team. Now girls grow up dreaming of playing for Canada.” - Christine Sinclair
“I think the thing that has sort of always separated me, even from when I was younger, is my ability to score goals.” - Christine Sinclair
“I think a lot of people thought women’s soccer had arrived and it was here to stay and it was going to be huge, but that wasn’t realistic. It has progressed slowly.” - Christine Sinclair
“When you are tentative and wait for the game to come to you, sometimes it never gets there.” - Bruce Arena
“Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football.” - Albert Camus
“Whatever happens, there are always things you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have scored a third. That's perfectionism. That's what makes you progress in life.” - Eric Cantona
“The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It’s the biggest sin in football to make him do any work.” - George Graham
“Never go for a 50-50 ball unless you're 80-20 sure of winning it.” - Ian Darke
“I worked on my weaknesses and made them my strengths.” - Sydney Leroux
“Leadership must be likeable, affable, cordial, and above all emotional. The fashion of authoritarian leadership is gone. Football is about life. You can't be angry all day.” - Vicente del Bosque
“I didn't really want to be the coach who wins, but the coach who educates.” - Vicente del Bosque
“Football has an important role to play in society. Players should have a sense of social responsibility, have a moral dimension to them which shows up in good conduct.” - Vicente del Bosque
“My ambition is that I have the best players who can collaborate with each other to form the best team in the world.” - Louis van Gaal
“Running is for animals. You need a brain and a ball for football.” - Louis van Gaal
“It's not just what you do on the pitch, it's what you do off the pitch.” - Paul Ince
“When I was a child I had a dream to become a football player. I always played as I played when I was a child. I tried to improve. I never dreamt of becoming a professional football player, I dreamed just to play with the best players in the best team. I never dreamed to be paid to play. I would have paid to play an FA Cup Final in front of 80,000 people in Wembley. I just tried to play the wonderful game that football is. So, I hope young players will still have this dream.” - Eric Cantona
“If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake.” - Paolo Maldini
“Over the last 10-15 years, you’ve seen soccer finally start to grow at a fast pace, start to get the recognition it deserves, and I think it has to do with all of the people who come to America from foreign countries.” - Claudio Reyna
“I used to focus more on scoring. Now I take a lot of pride and pleasure in helping someone else do well.” - Landon Donovan
“Basically, a manager is a father figure to 20 or 25 blokes. It's about trying to get the best out of them and creating team spirit.” - Alan Shearer
“A leader on the pitch is someone who can turn a game in the right direction, he isn't someone who has a go at his colleagues after the match for everything they did wrong.” - Michael Ballack
“The first task is to get to know the players really well - watching them as individuals in training and in match play - to see what is good in their natural game. Then, and only then, can we begin to outline the general tactics.” - Helenio Herrera
“On the pitch and for life generally, I keep my center by remembering that I am part of a team and if I don't do my part, I let down not just my team but everyone who follows it.” - Yaya Toure
“As long as we have the possibility then we still have to fight for it.” - Xabi Alonso
“If there is one thing that all players have in common it is that winning, competitive gene; the ability to overcome obstacles and fight for what you want from your career.” - Andres Iniesta
“Picking the team isn't difficult, it's who to leave out.” - Kevin Keegan
“Football's always easier when you've got the ball.” - Kevin Keegan
“To me, the team is more important than any individual member of the squad, and the players have to realise that and accept that my priority is to pick a side with the best possible chance of winning each match.” - Gerard Houllier
“Never ask for approval in your work. Life is your own, inspiration is your own, you create alone, and the results are your own - and that's good enough.” - David Luiz
“As a soccer player, the goal isn't to be very bulky. It is more important to even your body out. Make sure your body is well rounded. You can't really focus on one area. Everything has to be balanced.” - Jozy Altidore
“Like any sport, if you can clinch it sooner, clinch it sooner. It just makes the celebration that much sweeter.” - Kasey Keller
“To say that these men paid their shillings to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that Hamlet is so much paper and ink.” - J. B. Priestley
“Mind you, I've been here during the bad times too - one year we came second.” - Bob Paisley
“Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.” - Stan Smith
“If TV were only an invention to broadcast soccer, it would be justified.” - Roberto Fontanarrosa
“You need teamwork to achieve real success, and that attitude comes straight from soccer.” - Matt Bahr
“It is better to win ten times 1-0 than to win once 10-0.” - Vahid Halilhodžić
“When I was a child, it was my dream to be a professional footballer. When I was 14 I visited Milan's San Siro stadium and remember thinking how unbelievable it was. From then onwards I vowed that one day I would be playing there - and I am very proud that I achieved this and also for everything else I have managed to achieve in football.” - Andriy Shevchenko
“As a professional football player, I have known perfectly well from the day I started playing that every day I have to fight for my place.” - Luis Figo
“If the most important thing for your project is to put on a circus, then you have less chance of winning things.” - Luis Figo
“Soccer is simple... you just need to have the right mentality, fighting in every game, in every practice and for every ball.” - Hristo Stoichkov
“The mantra I live my life by is: “No excuses. Play like a champion. Shortcuts will get you nowhere.” - Kelley O’Hara
“If you believed in Santa Claus for 7 years, you can believe in yourself for 90 minutes.” - Unknown
"Winning is irrelevant when you’re 11 or 12 years old. It really is. At youth tournaments, I look at the technical ability of the players. Whether the team wins or loses - I don’t care." - Brad Friedel
“The Real Madrid shirt is white. It can stain of mud, sweat, and even of blood, but never of shame.” - Santiago Bernabeu
“It won’t be easy. But, if you love the game, it will be fun and it will be worth it” – Julie Johnston
“It’s not about “having” time. Everyone has the same amount of time. It’s about using the time you have.” - Julie Johnston
“Whatever you do, give it your best effort. Or, you will never know what might have been.” - Julie Johnston
“After a match I can never sleep. I play the game twenty times over in my head.” - Ibrahim Afellay
“If there is a mutual respect between players and coaches, that keeps the team honest and makes for a very healthy environment which in turn promotes other important qualities such as work ethic, integrity and a positive atmosphere for competing and winning.” - Jillian Ellis
“One of my favorite things about soccer is how the art and the passion of the game somehow unites people and nations and classes and races. That's something that comes out of the game and how it's displayed and why people enjoy watching it and supporting it.” - Tobin Heath
“It's that tingle in my stomach, that lump in my throat and that smile on my face that tell me I am part of an incredible team.” - Kristine Lilly
“I never want to let my teammates or coaches down, so I always fight through the days when I am exhausted or experiencing discomfort with injuries and headaches.” - Christie Rampone
“Do you have the heart to push yourself? If you don't, find a way to get it because talent will only get you so far. You've got to be hungry. You've got to have heart. That's just reality.” - Tiffeny Milbrett
“I don't care how talented a team is, unless you believe in one another, you're weak.” - Julie Foudy
“My teammates are the ultimate motivation. They mean everything to me. They are the reason I want to be at my best.” - Julie Foudy
“You have to dream big and go for it. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and ignore those who try to bring you down. Never give up, no matter what - overcoming obstacles makes you stronger!” - Shannon MacMillan
“Soccer isn't brain surgery, have fun.” - Michelle Akers
“Even if I don't reach all my goals, I've gone higher than I would have if I hadn't set any.” - Danielle Fotopoulos
“Will I become a coach in the future? No way. I'd never be able to put up with someone like me.” - Romario
“You can be a top, top player for 10, 20 years, then you become a coach, lose two or three games and you're out.” - Roger Milla
“If we score, we might win. If they never score, we can’t lose.” - Christie Rampone
"Most kids dream of scoring the perfect goal. I've always dreamed of stopping it." - Iker Casillas
“Good soccer players need not be titans sculpted by Michelangelo. In soccer, ability is much more important than shape, and in many cases, skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues.” - Eduardo Galeano
“Becoming a footballer is only the first half of the silent prayer a kid offers up to the sky or confides to his teacher in a primary school essay. The second part is the name of the team he wants to play for.” - Andrea Pirlo
“When good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.” - Eduardo Galeano
“Soccer matches should be something special, something people eagerly look forward to, something that brightens life.” – P. J. O’Rourke
“As a kid, you obviously dream of being a professional footballer. I would watch players like Ronaldo of Brazil and pretend to be him on the playground. But I don’t think about trying to become one of the best in the world or anything like that. I just play football.” - Gareth Bale
“Though the legs of a football coach are never so active on the field of play during playing time, his mind is the best or worse player on the pitch!” - Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“Substitution is a true test of strength. The real performance of a player is seen not only during playing time but also and more especially when the player is substituted.” - Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
“Complaining about boring football is a little like complaining about the sad ending of King Lear: it misses the point somehow.” - Nick Hornby
“I like to watch soccer, no matter what teams or players are in the field.” - Andres Iniesta
“Soccer is the most difficult business that we’re in, because one day you’re on top, and the next day you’re very low.” - Emilio Azcarraga Jean
“When you play soccer, most of the time you got to get the ball moving, but once you get into that attacking third you gotta’ be creative, you gotta’ let your talent take over.” - Freddy Adu
“Every soccer player can be on the edge, at the limit, be the bad guy. We have to get used to it. Sometimes I am one of those.” - Luis Suarez
“Soccer is an art more central to our culture than anything the Arts Council deigns to recognize.” - Germaine Greer
“I go into games saying they don’t know me before, I want them to know me after the game.” - Jermaine Jones
“In Latin America the border between soccer and politics is vague. There is a long list of governments that have fallen or been overthrown after the defeat of the national team.” - Luis Suarez
“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.” - George Best
“Most of us are in this more than just for playing soccer. We're in it for the bigger goal; to move it along for the next generation.” - Landon Donovan