Great Quotes in football

[BlackPearl]

"I thought at the time it was a beautiful goal, now I want to go and watch it on the TV to see how magical it really was."
Argentina striker Hernan Crespo about his team's 24-pass wonder-goal against Serbia & Montenegro.

"Let's face it, they never like the ball. The only time they would be happy is if it was square and heavy."
Bruce Arena dismissing goalkeepers' concerns over the new ball for the World Cup.

"A miracle to be here?, No, we just came by plane."
Trinidad and Tobago Coach Leo Beenhakker when he was asked if it was a miracle that his team was at the World Cup.

"Football 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.":D
Trinidad & Tobago coach Leo Beenhakker

The closest I got to him was when we shook hands at the end of the game.
Northampton player Roy Fairfax, who marked Best when he scored six goals in an 8-2 FA Cup win for Man Utd in 1970.

[Hammond Egg]

A couple of Birmingham City related quotes. First, Jim Smith, BCFC manager in the early 1980s after his team had lost a game in London:

Radio reporter: "The fans are right behind you, Jim."
Smith: "Well, let's hope I can shake them off before we reach Watford."

Then Vince Overson, BCFC captain in the early 1990s:
"This club isn't a sleeping giant - it's more like a comatose dwarf."

And one from Bill Shankly, who was never. als, connected with Birmingham:
"I love it when we play West Ham. They always play some beautiful football, the crowd always sees a wonderful game, and we always win 3-0."

[Thebigshow]

"I'm not at all religious. In Spain, all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If that worked, then it would always be a draw." --Cruyff

"...from the world's second best football player" -- a card from Pele to George Best

[Toon³]

Hoary old one from Bill Shankley:-
"Some people think football is a matter of life and death, but that’s ridiculous:- its far more important than that"


He actually said "Someone said 'football is more important than life and death to you' and I said 'Listen, it's more important than that'."

[Gregoriak]

"Alright, if we can't beat them, we could at least ruin their pitch".

Rolf Rüssmann, center back for Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund.

[Pabs]

"I'm no Brad Pitt, but there's worse out there than me"

Gennaro Gattuso being asked about his looks

[Pabs]

more Gattuso from the WC...

Gattuso being told that he has become the face of this WC after Ronaldinho's poor performances

"I can only ever dream of the kind of skill Ronaldinho has. To put us on par is an insult to soccer"

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Gattuso responding to a half-hearted question of making the WC team.

"Even if Marcello Lippi decided to send me home I would have chained myself to the team bus. You would have had to call the police to take me away"

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Ahead of the semi-final with Germany when he was on a yellow card

"I'd gladly miss the Final if it meant getting Italy there. Having said that, it's not as if I'm looking for a card with a Rambo bandana on my head. If the referee waves a yellow at me, I might just have to eat it"

[Pabs]

Marcelo Lippi on Iaquinta getting a yellow card:

"We've told the players 850 times that you can't kick the ball away, I don't know how we can make it clearer"

[BlackPearl]

Here's another one by Gordon Strachan:

"Lennon has a hamstring strain. Paul Telfer is injured too - why are there no rumours about Paul Telfer? The poor guy gets ignored all the time. He just wants one rumour."

[dante7]

apparently just as brazil won the 58 world cup final,garrincha said to one of his team mates"what ? its over already..what a rubbish tournament".laughed my head off when i first read that,he prefered the carioca championship because you got to play everyone twice.:)

[CL39]

Geezer Butler, the bassist for Black Sabbath, when asked
in late 70s, what the highest point of Black Sabbath's
first ten years of existence was

"Villa winning the League Cup in 77"

Now, there's a man who loves his football.

[Viola Star]

Fabio Capello:

"Serie A is wonderful. Serie B is depressing. And you have
to be on drugs to watch Serie C."

[johan neeskens]

More enigmatic stuff from Cruyff:

"You never see a Dutchman excel in a sport like weightlifting. It's apparently not in our nature to lift weights. We're just too lazy. But we did sail every sea and we excel in hockey, football and volleyball. Being just a little bit smarter helps. Dutch people have the edge there." (and no he wasn't being ironic!)

"When I come home after a sport analysis and my wife asks, 'What did you say?' I'll reply, 'I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.'"

"Orange is a happy colour."

"The cleverest do math, the next-best write books. Dancers are the cleverest with their feet, next are footballers."

My personal favourite:

"If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better."

And finally, the phrase that should help all of you to understand the Dutch view on football and indeed life in general:

"It's better to fail with your own vision rather than following another man's vision."

[johan neeskens]

Louis van Gaal to the Dutch media:

"Are you all that stupid or am I that clever"

"The Spanish league is the best in the world. The Dutch league is the second best league in the world." (hence my signature)

To the Spanish media upon his resigning at Barcelona:

"My friends of the press, I'm off. Congratulations."

Screaming at Ajax fans after they won the championship:

"We're the best club of Amsterdam, we're the best club of Rotterdam, we're the best club of Eindhoven" (and he wonders why he's so well liked in Holland - not)

[Bertje]

"We're the best club of Amsterdam, we're the best club of Rotterdam, we're the best club of Eindhoven" (and he wonders why he's so well liked in Holland - not)

But nobody ever really took the opportunity what he said before and after that.

[johan neeskens]

But nobody ever really took the opportunity what he said before and after that.

It pissed off a lot of people that's for certain.

[dor02]

Fabio Capello:

"Serie A is wonderful. Serie B is depressing. And you have
to be on drugs to watch Serie C."Never knew that one. Sounds great though.

[DerMongerer]

Franz Beckenbauer on why Germany has historically been so successful at the World Cup:

"It's not that Germany produces the best footballers, it's that the German mentality is stronger than other nations".

Inter Milan/Italy legend Giancinto Fachetti on marking Pele at the 1970 WC Finals:

"I thought he was made of flesh and bones like everyone else, but I was wrong!"

[dor02]

It was Tarcisio Burgnich that said it:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/cp/bra/pele.html

[DerMongerer]

It was Tarcisio Burgnich that said it:

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/cp/bra/pele.html

My mistake, you're correct.

Come to think of it I liked this one I forgot to add unapologetic quote from your Juventus/Italian legend Claudio Gentile when questioned about his (some say dirty!) defending:

"Football is not a sport for ballerinas".

Classic.