The Week in Quotes - WORLD FOOTBALL

The Week in Quotes - WORLD FOOTBALL

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"For me, I like a striker that makes the difference. Lukaku is strong, he's more the physical player that scores a lot of goals. Aguero, he's good. Lions, they don't compare themselves with humans."
Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic tells BT Sport why he does not consider himself one of the best goalscorers in the English Premier League

"He has numbers [which show he is] a beast of a footballer. He's one of the most unbalancing players in the world [for opposition defences] and his signing by this club was a great decision. I hope he scores another 900 goals, so we can keep seeing him at Barcelona for many more years."
Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique praises Neymar in a post-game news conference after his side's 4-1 win over Granada

"Louis van Gaal took a couple of our training sessions. He was head coach of the (AZ Alkmaar) men’s team at the time and was very pro the women’s game. Both sessions he put on started with a basic passing routine but they lasted for ages because he was obsessed with them being perfect. He’d shout: ‘Stop, back to the beginning,’ if someone did something that was not 100 per cent right. I’ve never seen attention to detail like it. It was awe-inspiring but also a little crazy, which tallies with the stories you hear about how he drilled the players at United. I spoke to him a few times and he was really nice. His knowledge of football is insanely good."
Jessica Fishlock speaks about Louis van Gaal with the Guardian before making her 100th appearance for Wales and becoming the first player, male or female, to reach the milestone for the country

"The South American qualifiers are tough, the hardest in the world if you ask me, the ones where you have to adapt the most. You have to go to Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and the like. They’re tough games to play, and the atmosphere can be hostile. You have a lot of problems to overcome. It wasn’t easy before and it’s not easy now, but the important thing is to be prepared and not come up with excuses. The qualifiers are a test of how mature you are."
Brazil right-back Dani Alves speaks in an exclusive interview with FIFA.com about the difficulty of playing in South America's World Cup qualifiers

"I think I played tonight with my players, for sure. I suffered with them. We must be pleased because we beat a very strong team—I think they’re the best team in the league."
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte speaks with the BBC after his side's 2-1 win over Manchester City

"My opinion about my colleague Conte is that he's superb, maybe he's the best. How he was able to make Italy play beautiful football, Juventus too, in a culture where it's so defensive. He's an excellent manager. I learn a lot when I see his teams - Juventus, Italy and now. Their teams control a lot of aspects. It's a good lesson for me to see his teams and learn."
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praises Conte before City's 2-1 defeat by Chelsea

"I never actually wanted to be a coach. I went to college to play some football and get an education. I then went off on a different tangent and worked in the business world for a couple of years as a technical writer [for a telecoms company]. I got a call to go and do an assistant [coaching] job at a university. I took a jump and a leap of faith. It spiralled since then and I have been able to make a career out of it."
USA women's national team head coach Jill Ellis speaks with the BBC World Service about her entry into coaching

"It's nice being Nicklas Bendtner anywhere."
Rosenborg forward Nicklas Bendtner responds to TV2 reporter’s question: ‘Is it nice being Nicklas Bendtner in Norway?’ after his team’s 3-0 win over Sandefjord

“It’s hard for me to find the words to explain it. Even sometimes when I am going to sleep or when I am waking up, I ask myself: ‘What did I do to be where I am today?’ I am grateful for it but one of the things I know is that I still don’t believe it.”
Cameroon forward Christian Bassogog speaks with the Guardian about his success at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Gabon 2017 and subsequent transfer to Henan Jianye in the Chinese Super League

"To the end. This motto accompanies me every day on the field and it has supported me over these years spent with my head in the books. I'm proud of this degree; proud to have done it. Happy to have reached this objective."
Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini writes on his Instagram profile about completing his degree in Business Administration and successfully writing a thesis on the club's business model at the University of Turin

https://twitter.com/KAKA/status/850406241214103553

"To win is like a drug. I never tried drugs but I imagine a drug noise to be like that. I have my best ideas in the bathroom. After it, I paint my idea on a piece of paper with a ruler and a lead pencil. I work like a baker. I mix things, shove them in the oven and see if it tastes well."
Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann makes an interesting comparison after his side defeated Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 1-0, in an interview with Bild

"As a footballer, everything you've achieved can easily be lost and then you are nobody. That's just how life is and that's why you shouldn't let things get you down. That's the reason I treat every match like a final. I try to do that in every game – to give 100 per cent. Life is like a set of scales. One minute, you can be right up there, and the next, really low."
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez speaks with Arsenal Player about the highs and lows of being a professional footballer

"It’s all about points and playing a great style of football. I’ve been around for three World Cups and going to my fourth World Cup qualifying campaign. I can see the style in what he’s trying to do and I think the main thing is, whatever style you put, every style ends up becoming a 4-4-2, whether you like it or not, or a 4-3-3. We’re all professional players that play in big leagues around the world and it takes time. Ange’s thoughts are still, as well as the older and younger players, is you want to go to a World Cup and make an impact. Not just stumble in or Confederations Cup and hope for the best when you get there and play it by ear."
Tim Cahill speaks with FourFourTwo Australia about Australia head coach Ange Postecoglou's philosophy and positive influence

“When I first arrived in England, I didn't have very high expectations about English food because everyone told me that it's not so good, or whatever. English people and English food is very English, they feel very proud of their food and routines. On Sundays, I like to try Sunday roast and I really like pie - beef pie. The one thing I didn't like that is very famous is the fish and chips. It's very famous but it's a bit oily. I like to go to English countryside pubs, where they have homemade food and I really enjoy it – so I cannot complain about English food. And that's not a fake answer, it's a real one!”
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata tells Kicca about his eating habits

https://twitter.com/MarcBartra/status/848515917822689281

https://twitter.com/MarcBartra/status/849937215392288768