The Week in Quotes

The Week in Quotes
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"If I had the money, I'd sign him up for Barça because he's one of the best players in the world right now. And he's a close friend."
Dani Alves on Neymar

"There’s no better feeling for a footballer than scoring for their country in a competition like this."
USA midfielder Megan Rapinoe on scoring at the FIFA Women’s World Cup

"The forward I like the most is undoubtedly Wayne Rooney. He never stops moving, he works hard for the team and scores important goals."
Andriy Shevchenko to FIFA.com

"Someone suddenly told me that Real Madrid were going to call. Five minutes later, stunned, I answered the phone. I said, 'Yes?' and I heard 'Hi, it's Jose Mourinho'."
Nuri Sahin, new Real Madrid midfielder

"I think it’s harder to score a penalty."
New father Edinson Cavani on whether it’s harder to change a nappy or score a penalty

"The entire nation was thrilled by the victory of our very own Philippine Azkals."
Benigno S. Aquino III, Philippines President, on the national team’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifying success

"Living without my children in Manchester has been incredibly challenging for me. Everything I do, I do for my daughters, Katie and Florencia. I need to be closer to them and to spend more time with them. I need them to be happy because my life is about them now. I need to be in a place where they can adapt."
Carlos Tevez on his reasons for wanting to leave Manchester City

"As I live in Buenos Aires, and even I am a supporter of Boca, I went to the Monumental stadium to watch the game. This draw is a tragedy…I’ve seen haggard and distraught people wandering. It was like somebody would take off a part of their social life. And it didn’t affect only supporters of River. Even those of Boca don’t know how to react."
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mexican actor

"The simple fact is that things are not working out the way we expected them to."
Argentina coach Sergio Batista on his team’s poor start to the Copa America 2011

"He's very talented. He's already won a trophy with Atletico Madrid and the Spain U-21 team so the prospect of him doing well is there. Everybody has to be his own person but I've met him. I've spoken to him and it looks to me as though he can handle it."
Edwin van der Sar on his replacement at Manchester United, David De Gea

"Sports can change people’s minds and prejudices not only in South Africa but around the whole world."
Steven Pienaar

"He made a huge contribution to Blackpool's team last year and we're looking forward to him making the same contribution here."
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish on new signing Charlie Adam

"He's a special player for us. We want him here and need him here."
Harry Redknapp on Luka Modric

"I will be director of football for the first team. Mourinho influenced this decision, but also Florentino [Perez]. We will see [what tasks I am assigned], but I will [be occupying the new role] from Monday until the end of the season."
Zinedine Zidane on his new role

"We are aware that this team have a lot more footballing potential to show."
Argentina's Pablo Zabaleta on Twitter

"Dennis was an excellent team-mate, a really great person who gave it everything he had out on the pitch. Today we grafted like he used to do and fortunately we were able to win the game. All this is for him."
Costa Rica’s Joel Campbell pays tribute to Dennis Marshall, who passed away recently

"You always dream of scoring important goals, but this one tops them all."
Julio Gomez after firing Mexico into the FIFA U-17 World Cup final

"Our position is always the same, we want to keep Cesc and I will fight as hard as I can to keep him. Samir Nasri is exactly the same. We will do everything we can to keep him.”
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal manager