The Week in Quotes - WORLD FOOTBALL
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| AFP |
“Keshi was a superhero. His death is a big loss to Nigeria as a nation, not only to Nigeria football.”
Nigeria Football Federation President Amaju Pinnick paid tribute to Stephen Keshi, after his tragic and sudden passing at the age of 54
“This is just the way it happened. After being on holiday for 14 days, of course I am going to be a bit out of shape. I don’t really know what sort of physical condition I will be in. I was supposed to fly back to Moscow today. I didn’t even have my football boots with me and none of the clothes that I needed.”
Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Artur Yusupov was called up to Russia’s UEFA EURO 2016 squad while staying in the team’s same hotel while on holiday
“It's difficult to be away when something like this happens. My mom asked me to stay here with my team-mates and to win the game. I am so happy because I was able to score, it was for my grandmother and my family that are having a difficult time. I knew that I couId score. In the morning when I knew what happened I knew that I would score today, and that happened and it was for her."
An understandably emotional Angel Di Maria dedicated the goal he scored for Argentina against Chile in the Copa America Centenario group stage to his late grandmother
“Beckham is a cool guy. I look up to him. It is not easy to be him. He has a family, but outside he is a machine. I keep them (his family) outside of all this. I don’t want them to live my life. My boys will not live in my shadow. They will become better than me. They train. But I judge hard. I care about discipline and respect. They need to learn the principles. I just hope they become two ninjas.”
Sweden forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens up about his family life and shares his dreams for his children ahead of EURO 2016
https://twitter.com/A_Lawrence99/status/739870020914667520
Canada midfielder Ashley Lawrence posted a message on social media from the team’s meeting at Parliament Hill with Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of their friendly against Brazil in Ottawa (Canada won 1-0)
“That’s hard to explain. I started crying when Lucas Vazquez calmly scored his kick with extreme confidence. I got emotional and I felt we were not going to lose. It all started when Sergio [Ramos] told us we were going to use the goal in front of our fans for the shoot-out.”
Real Madrid defender Pepe tried to explain his emotional response to his club’s UEFA Champions League success
“He’s a really good person, but he has no personality. He lacks [the] character to be a leader.”
Diego Maradona on Lionel Messi
"I didn’t think I’d ever be able play them on anything other than PlayStation.”
Israel forward Munas Dabbur talks about facing the stars of Spain and Italy when the European qualifying competition for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ gets under way in September.
"It is like any derby - you never want to lose to the enemy. I think we've got a lot more passion and pride about us than them. We'll definitely show that on the day."
Wales forward Gareth Bale on facing England at UEFA EURO 2016
“Tonight we saw a man who was hurt. He showed tremendous desire. That tells you how much he wants to play for France. He cried at the end of the game. He thought he was going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He was involved in every qualifying game but they took that away from him. He was saying with that performance against Romania 'you didn't take me to the World Cup and I am going to show you'. He wanted every single ball. You can't win a game by yourself but that strike...oh my gosh. He showed tremendous desire. He was the one that drove the team forward.”
Former France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry on France midfielder Dmitri Payet's performance in his team's 2-1 win over Romania in the opening match of EURO 2016