"We are so proud, I am so proud, a big congratulations for everyone, especially Hansi [Flick], the players and the backroom staff for this amazing thing. But I would like to say to Hansi that you are the second team to win the six titles in a row! Before you, there was another team, Barcelona… so maybe I can call Messi and company and we can play for the seventh title? Tell me when and where and we will be there!" Pep Guardiola
Only 5,000 people lived on the island. I flew out there. It was brilliant! In my first training session we walked up a volcano, a grassed volcano. We were told we couldn't spend more than a couple of minutes at the top because it was really hot under foot. And I was like, 'Alright...'. We got to the top and it was genuinely really hot. And the training session was, as we were walking up they were putting slalom poles up the grass volcano. We got to the top and they said, 'Right, set off and defenders are going to jump slide tackle slalom style down the mountain and goalkeepers are going to dive slalom style and I'm like, 'What can get better than this?' It was amazing. It was light for 22 hours a day. We played golf at midnight just because you can." Rachel Brown-Finnis on playing in Iceland (Football Ramble Presents on Stakhanov)
"I'm not sure that you can teach the best players in the world. We just put the team together and emphasize certain things. The way she saw things on the field, first as a player, then as a coach, had a great impact in games." Pia Sundhage on Hege Riise (Forbes)
“Youssoufa has always liked Lionel Messi. We also often watched the games from the top European leagues or the Champions League together. That was always wonderful. In Africa, it is rare for people to sit at home alone in front of the television and watch football. Most people go to a bar and watch together. Sometimes 100 people come together to watch top matches in the Champions League. You don't have to order anything, you can just sit there and watch the game. When a goal is scored, many people go absolutely crazy and are happy for the clubs they support.” Borel Moukoko, brother of Borussia Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko (Spox)
“When I was little the team I watched the most was the French national team. For me, the players I looked up to were Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, and it’s difficult for me to admit because of my relationship with Chelsea, but I really liked the Arsenal team at the time. They had players like Robert Pires, [Sylvain] Wiltord and [Patrick] Vieira, so it was mainly French players that I followed growing up.” Eden Hazard (Premier Sports Network)
"Edina and her colleagues - the assistant referees - have done a great job and they are here because they deserve to be here. When Pierluigi Collina and his team bring somebody, it is because they deserve it. We want, of course, to break down more barriers, to have more women as referees, because it shows, and sends, an important message to the world and I’m very proud and happy that we could do it here." FIFA President Gianni Infantino (beIN SPORTS)
Right, so ... I’d be lying if I said that I was over it. It stays with you, especially when you’re a goalkeeper. You might be able to escape people’s memories if you’re a left back or a midfielder, but as a goalie? Forget it. You know how the conversations go. 'Oh, who was the keeper at that World Cup? You know, the one where Brazil lost 7-1 to Germany in the semi-finals? Ah yes, it was Julio Cesar! But what can you do? You can only try to rehabilitate yourself. You do a lot of psychological work. You try to look forward. Today, thank God, people talk less about it, but I have accepted that the game will never leave me completely. Never. The only other thing I would say is that I never regretted playing in that World Cup. I would have had it all the same way — except the result. I played in a World Cup in my own country. I went to three World Cups with Brazil. That is quite an honour. Besides, I will never forget the shootout in our round-of-16 game against Chile. When I saved those two penalties, the whole of Brazil froze. The country was with me in saving those shots. Whatever people say, nothing can take away the feelings I had in that moment. But then came the 7-1, which shook us. We were devastated, in pieces. I believe that every Brazilian who played that game left the pitch a different person. Afterwards, I told my family I was going to retire. I was so low, I had forgotten what had made me fall in love with football in the first place." Julio Cesar (The Players' Tribune)
“I think the government and the powers that be need to do so much more to govern these social media platforms and we need to stand up, speak up and make it unacceptable that this happens. Discrimination in any form is absolutely unacceptable. I have been told I’m an abomination and should never have been born. I have been sent things through the post that weren’t very nice just because I love another human being.” Casey Stoney (The Guardian)
“In my opinion, Salah is the Messi of Africa and of course he has the skills to play for the best teams in the world. What he [Salah] has achieved can be compared to what Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo did with Barcelona and Real Madrid.” Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Irish Mirror)
"I told Jimmy Gabriel, who was in charge of subs, that the gaffer had said I was to go on. Jimmy gave the paper to the fourth official and I ran on the pitch. I turned just as the gaffer was running towards the sideline shouting 'what the hell are you doing?' Poor Jimmy was left to explain. I was in the best shape of my life, a damn sexy footballer and I knew I was ready." Daniel Amokachi (Mail Online)
"He's the most talented player I've ever seen. He never gives the ball away. I catch a cross and I see Grealish running, I know it's a shot on target or a corner – for, not against! He will drive past two or three players, I just see Messi with a right foot! When he's on the ball, you can't get it off him." Emiliano Martinez (talkSPORT)
