Saturday 22 September 2018, 09:15

The Week in Quotes

"A lot of the time when (Messi) takes the free-kicks you go directly to the place where you’re going to celebrate them." Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic on team-mate Lionel Messi's free-kick goal against PSV Eindhoven in the club's 4-0 win in the UEFA Champions League

"I really enjoyed playing with him because he made me better on the pitch and he’s a great guy off it, too. I gave him loads of assists and he doesn’t need me to remind him of that! It was easy to play with him because you didn’t need to create a lot of chances. Even if I just gave him two passes, he would score two goals and that’s why he’s one of the greatest footballers who’s ever lived." Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil speaks with www.arsenal.com about what it was like to play with The Best FIFA Men’s Player finalist Cristiano Ronaldo during his time with Real Madrid

"It’s okay to lose. We tend to do anything to win, which is good, but sometimes, it doesn’t help us improve. If we lose, we can take it as a learning experience and improve ourselves." Malayisa FIFA eSport professional Luqman ‘Fenrir’ Haziq gives his advice to aspiring FIFA gamers, in an interview with New Straits Times

FIFA World Cup™ winner Ngolo Kante made a special impromptu visit to a few fans' home to connect over a game of FIFA

"We’ve been waiting for this moment. This is the day the country is waiting for – we’re through to the World Cup.”" An emotional Solomon Islands coach Stanley Waita after the Melanesian nation qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2019

"I am happy for Toronto because they will be remembered as my 500th victim." LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic after scoring the 500th goal of his career, speaking with TSN

"You can bring Bobby Firmino on and that helps a lot. I loved his goal celebration." Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Roberto Firmino's goal celebration in his side's 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League

"There's a lot of hardship involved in becoming the best in the world. I didn't mind that though. For me it was a challenge and also what drove me on. But it's much harder to stay at the very top because the demands from outside are much greater, as are the demands you make of yourself. You're no longer satisfied with an average performance." Goalkeeping great Oliver Kahn speaks exclusively with FIFA.com ahead of The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony on 24 September

"It is obvious that he is [one of] the four players that are the best in the world. Leo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Eden. Every year, you look at their numbers - score goals, assists, minutes – to see they play very well." Chelsea forward Pedro speaks with the Mirror about team-mate Eden Hazard

"Society needs to change the way it thinks. Unfortunately, there are still all too few signed texts and they really need to be pushed as a priority so that deaf people feel catered for and are on a level footing." Garyfallia Spyrou, one member of the FIFA project team that worked to bring Russia 2018 highlights to the deaf and hard of hearing community, speaks ahead of the first International Day of Sign Languages

Suwon Bluewings goalkeeper Shin Hwayong speaks after saving three penalties to lead his side past Jeonbuk Motors into the AFC Champions League semi-finals