"Sometimes, during the work on this book, I have felt like Malcolm McDowell in 'A Clockwork Orange'. I have been forced to watch things that, in the end, have made me sick." - John Foot, on his time spent researching "Calcio: a History of Italian football"
¨Tengo memoria. Al que no creía, a los que no creyeron, con perdón de las damas, que la chupen y que la siguen chupando. Yo soy blanco o negro, gris no voy a ser en mi vida. Ustedes me trataron como me trataron. Sigan mamando.¨ I have a memory. To everyone who didn´t believe in us, though I´m sorry for everyone else, they can suck it and keep sucking it. I am black and white, never in my life will I be gray. You guys treated me this way so keep sucking. - Diego Maradona in Montevideo to the press after Argentina qualified.
"if he didnt exist we'd have had to invent him" juste fontaine on garrincha. "if frank sinatra was THE voice garrincha was THE dribble" luis mendes. "pele was a machine garrincha was an artist" armando nogueira
Ahh yes, Garrincha, one of the most neglected soccer stories ever. Without Garrincha, I would never have been a three-time world champion. - Pele FIFA Magazine, April 1997 - http://www.fifa.com/fifa/pub/magazine/fm4-97.12.html Pele was the best but Garrincha was better. Pele was a machine, Garrincha was an artist. Garrincha was Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and a snake charmer all rolled into one. He can dribble twenty players before scoring! – Nilton Santos, Brazilian teammate He was never interested in money; he was simple and, for him, football was fun. – Elza Soares. and allow me to offer some Trivia *Garrincha is known to have fathered at least 14 children. *According to Ruy Castro's Book Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero, he lost his viginity to a goat.Guardian review of "Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero" *The name Garrincha itself means "wren". Besides women, activities involving songbirds were among Garrincha's greatest passions - specifically, he liked shooting them. *Dubbed "Little Bird" Garrincha never bothered about the 'details' of the game. When his team-mates were celebrating World Cup win, he was initially bemused, having been under the impression that the competition was more league-like and that Brazil would play all the other teams twice. *Brazil never lost when he and Pelle were on the same team. *A 3-1 defeat to Hungary during 1966 World Cup was the first time he lost in 60 Brazil appearances.
"If voodoo worked every Africa Cup would end up tied" - by Neném Prancha, folkloric character of Brz football (just change in that phrase 'voodoo' for 'macumba' & "Africa Cup' for 'Bahiano Championship' - Bahia is the blackest state in Brazil - & you'll have the original statement).
deuternomy, i never read about garrincha that he liked shooting his birds, any link to a source? very funny if true, garrincha sounds very much like the original lunatic footballer.
http://en.allexperts.com/e/g/ga/garrincha.htm here is the link, Shooting songbirds was weird but the goat thing puts him in a very special category. He also suffered from several birth defects, one leg was shorter than the other, the other leg was turned inward. None of which affected his greatness as a player.
plus he crashed his car killing his mother in law ran over his own dad drank drank and drank some more smoked and had a bad knee for years putting off a operation in favour of a witch doctors help ... yet he's still renowned around the world by fans and professional writers journalists etc in a 100 different languages as one of the "real" global football greats...no familiarity or bias needed here...he appears at or near the top places of football experts the world over from the uk to s.america to europe and as a individualist is still considered the best, very few players have left a similar mark. jimmy greaves said quite accurately "he was mad but what a player"
and the legendary len shackleton said of newcastle united " ive heard of players selling dummies but this club keeps buying em " this is the man who in his book "clown prince of soccer" had a chapter titled the average director's knowledge of football....he left the chapter blank... an entertainer on and off the field
Gary Lineker, as well as being a great goalscorer, was also a more than useful opening batsman at cricket, and represented the MCC on a number of occasions. Once, he opened the batting for them against a German National XI. Lineker was clean bowled, having scored only one run, and as he walked back to the pavilion, somebody grumbled "Only one bloody run, Lineker, tha's a worse cricketer than you are a footballer" to which Lineker replied: "Well, I always get one against the Germans".
I apologise if any of these are repeats of other quotes in this thread, only I don't have the time to trawl through the whole thing: I wouldn't be bothered if we lost every game, as long as we won the league (Mark Viduka, showing typical Aussie never-say-die attitude) I've had 14 yellow cards this season, 8 of which were my fault, but the other 7 were disputable (Paul Gascoigne, mathmatically challenged) I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life and hopefully after that as well (Alan Shearer expresses his undying love for Newcastle United) I'd like to play for an Italian club like Barcelona (Mark Draper of Aston Villa....... for a looooong time) You've got to believe you'll win and I believe we are in the World Cup until the final whistle blows and we're knocked out (Peter Shilton, master of stating the glaringly obvious) I faxed them a transfer request at the beginning of the week, but let me categorically state that I don't want to leave Leicester (Stan Collymore. One club man until he dies) I'm as happy as I can be.... although I've been happier (Ugo Ehiogu. Aww, don't you just love his cheeky little smiling face...) I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock (Barry Venison, whose next challenge is to learn how to tie his own laces) The Brazilians were South American, but I think the Ukrainians will be much more European (Gary Neville. Goes to the top of the class in Geography)
For the benefit of our American friends who have probably never heard of the British football commentator John Motson, just trust me, this guy is anally retentive and would never have gotten the joke: Whilst England were taking part in Euro 2000, he interviewed Alan Shearer Motty: How do you feel after scoring the winning goal against the Germans Shearer: It makes me feel like dancing, John. Motty: Do you think England can go on to win the tournament? Shearer: It's what I want, what I really, really want, John. Motty: Has Sven spoken to you about the possibility that you may be rested for the next game? Shearer: No John, I heard it through the grapevine Motty: Now, I hear a rumour that some England players have a bet on to see how many song titles they can fit into their responses during interviews. Shearer: It's just your imagination,John. Motty: Thanks Alan. .
I think no collection of football quotes would be complete without a contribution from the intellectual Collossus that is David Beckham..... "My parents have always been there for me, ever since I was about 7" (well, he's always been seen as a family man, hasn't he.?) "Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, actually, he's the only manager I've had at this level, but he's the best manager I've ever had" (I think we know where you're coming from, David) "We definitely want Brooklyn to be Christened, but we haven't decided into which religion yet" (Errrrm..... Christianity, perhaps..?) "One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best" (None of us would, David) But the final word has to be the brilliant knife-right-between-the-ribs quote from Ian Wright, after the penalty shoot out defeat by Argentina during the 1998 World Cup, where Beckham was red carded at a time when Argentina were struggling to live with England during the game.......... "I don't want to sound harsh, but Beckham cost us the match". Tell it like it is, why dontcha, Wrightey...? .
"Es un gordito que no puede hacerle un gol a nadie." (He's a little fatso who can't score a goal against anybody) Memorable quote by Boca Juniors goalkeeper Hugo Orlando Gatti, referring to hyped teenager Diego Maradona, the week before facing Maradona on the pitch for the first time. Maradona scored four goals against Gatti in that match, as Argentinos Juniors beat Boca Juniors 5 - 3.
A really good example of how sometimes is better shut up than later risking looking like an idiot. Pfaff did the same six years later. Just like Gatti, he called out Diego before the semifinal in Mexico. Maradona responded that he would just let his game do the talking, and finally he put perhaps his greatest WC performance ever. Also, I remember reading that by the end of the match, Pfaff wanted Diego's jersey, and he finally got it, despite talking trash before.
Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos definitely wants this thread to be bumped up! Last week, 1st leg of the Champions' League tie. His team leading 1-0 and the opponents equalize the match at the end: "It's a pity the three points ran away" Today, after being asked why he started playing soccer: "When I was a kid, some of my friends liked basket and some others liked basketball" For spanish speakers, the twitter hashtag #sergioramosfacts is on the trend now.
Marcelo Bielsa doesn't speak much, but when he does he drops some gems...a few: In a game with the Argentinian national team in Colombia - "In street fights there are two types of brawlers. There's the one who hits, see's blood, gets scared and backs off. then there's the one that hits, see's blood and goes all out, to kill. Well, boys: I was outside, and I swear to you that it smells like blood" - "Soccer is less exciting when played by those who know how to play" - "I am obsessed with attacking. I look at videos to learn how to attack, not defend. You know what is my defensive work is? "We all run". Defensive work has 5 or 6 elements and that's it, there's the limit. Attacking futbol is infinite, unending. That's why its easier to defend than to 'create'. Running is a decision that speaks to will, while 'creating' necessitates the indespensable resiquite that is talent" - "Soccer can lose everything: it will continue without coaches, without managers, without players, without spectators. But it cannot continue without the shield. Because the shield is what brings emotion. Everything soccer generates, it generates because of that desire to capture the emotion of those who cry when their team wins or loses"