“In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigour and precision.”— Lionel Messi, twitter.com
“What matters is being a good father and a good husband—just being connected to family as much as possible. Being a dad is more important than football, more important than anything. I adore children. I love the fact our children are part of both of us. It’s one of the most amazing things ever.”— David Beckham, mirror.co.uk
“I found playing football for more than 20 years was my passion. It was something that I didn’t see as a joke. I would have done it for free over 20 years and that’s how I’ll always feel about football.”— David Beckham, timeout.com
“Every year since I started to play football has been amazing, but this year was special. First of all because we won, for the first time in the history of Portugal, that important cup. For Real Madrid to win the Champions League again, it was an amazing year.”— Cristiano Ronaldo, worldsoccer.com
“For me, every season is a challenge. Many people ask me how I’m going to motivate myself to win more things because you’ve won everything already. But football is my passion and I’m still able to make the fans happy. People love to see me, so I try to do my best, I try to score goals, to help my tea…”— Cristiano Ronaldo, worldsoccer.com
“Soccer is what I grew up doing – it’s my passion, and I’m way more comfortable on the field in my soccer cleats.”— Alex Morgan, feelingsuccess.com
“I don't run straight at a constant pace; soccer is always a change of pace and movement.”— Alex Morgan, successstory.com
“I have never considered myself greedy or a ball hog, even if some people thought I was. I have grown as a player and learnt from those people who tried to help me improve.”— Lionel Messi, worldsoccer.com
“My first memories are from when I was very little, maybe three or four years old playing in my neighbourhood at home. I can picture myself with the ball at my feet from a very young age.”— Lionel Messi, worldsoccer.com
“Why lie? I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say the opposite of what I think, like some others do. I said exactly what I thought: I have a dream of playing at Real and I thought it was time to move on. People can't be upset about me fulfilling a childhood dream.”— Cristiano Ronaldo, theguardian.com
“Manchester United and Real are probably the two biggest clubs in the world and it would never be an easy decision to make. Apart from the challenge, everyone realises that Spanish and Portuguese culture and lifestyle are more similar. Those were the reasons that made me consider the change.”— Cristiano Ronaldo, theguardian.com
“We won for the first time and the feeling is completely different. I was very emotional. I was thinking about my team-mates, my family – my whole family because we were all born in Portugal. So the feeling was a little bit crazy. I cried a lot. Sad moments, emotional moments, happy moments; it all h…”— Cristiano Ronaldo, worldsoccer.com
“U-S-A! S-O-C-C-E-R! C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S O-N T-H-E B-I-G W-I-N! Y-O-U A-R-E A-N I-N-S-P-I-R-A-T-I-O-N T-O U-S A-L-L! #LSSC”— Stephen Colbert, twitter.com