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Feature: What They Said
The past week has been overwhelmed with sensational stories and interesting quotes. Goal.com now brings you the best of those quotes from the past seven days and also tosses in some words of footballing wisdom from the yesteryears…..
07-Sep-2008 2:29:52 AM
From the past week…..
1. Robinho’s transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester City has been the talking point of this week. That Robinho was desperate to leave the Bernabeu was made apparent on Sunday last when the Brazilian international himself arranged a press conference and said:
"I have told Schuster and Pedja that I want to leave the club. The coach thinks that he can have me back, but I am only thinking about playing for Chelsea.
"My agent has gone to the club a thousand times to speak to them and the club has not shown any interest in keeping me.
"Now that the club have failed to sign anyone else, suddenly they want me to stay…..Schuster is not my father, he is only my coach.”
2. Much was made about Real Madrid in the handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo and the Robinho transfer sagas over the summer. President Ramon Calderon has been ridiculed by a certain section of the football community and one of the all time greats of the club, Roberto Carlos (now of course playing for Fenerbahçe), wasn’t too kind either. He told Radio Marca:
“Calderón and Mijatovic are two people who do not have any experience when it comes to running a football club. “Lorenzo Sanz arrived for the people of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez managed to liquidate the debts and now, at the club board, you have these two who do not know what they are doing.”
3. Bulgarian international striker Dimitar Berbatov finally made his dream move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United for a staggering £30.75 million. He could have gone to either Chelsea or Manchester City but did not. Why? Berbatov made it clear on MUTV:
“I don't play for the money. If I want to play for the money, I will accept the Manchester City offer or Chelsea.
“Those who know me, my really close friends, know that I play for enjoyment and to entertain the fans. But the red shirt is a really big thing for me. I want to play for the biggest club in the world. That is why I am here.”
4. Manchester City have been rippling shockwaves across the footballing world since the cash-stuffed Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) took control of the club. The company’s owner Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim has made it clear that he wants to make Man City the biggest club in the world very soon and in an interview told The Guardian that he was looking forward to bringing a certain Cristiano Ronaldo on board very soon:
"Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious.
“Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160 million (roughly £90m) but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more; I would think $240 million (£135m). But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."
5. Brazil and Argentina have an age-old volatile and fierce footballing rivalry that Brazilian president Lula must certainly be aware of. Yet he was brave enough to admit that the current crop of Brazilian footballers have a thing or two to learn from Lionel Messi:
“He is the best player in the world. When I see Messi lose possession he runs to win it back or commits a foul.
"When our players lose the ball they just fold their arms."
6. Diego Armando Maradona has never quite liked the FIFA president Sepp Blatter and in the wake of the ‘slavery’ issue, El Diego had his say on the matter:
“He is there to serve us. He is our slave because without him, we can all still play football, but he is nothing without us. He doesn’t even know how to kick a ball.”
We are still waiting for Mr. Blatter to reply to this one….
7. Oh, it seems that Diego Maradona would prefer Sergio Aguero to Lionel Messi to become his successor. Just read this:
“I would like to see Kun beat Messi to become my successor, but it will be a long and hard battle because Leo is a phenomenon.
“But I have always said that even if Messi manages to surpass me, then it would be a triumph for all of Argentina.”
Well, if you are wondering why Maradona would like Aguero and not Messi to be El Diego II, then you should know that Aguero is in a relationship with Maradona’s daughter Giannina.
From the yesteryears…..
8. Italy-based football journalist Paddy Agnew gives an interesting take on Italian football and Italian football followers in his book Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football:
“For me, watching an Italian football team play, be it a club or the national team, gets me out of never-never land and straight into the Italian mainstream. Curiously, watching the Italian national team play can tend to have the same effect on Italians themselves, since one of the oft-repeated clichés of modern Italian living is that Italy and Italians only really assume a national identity when the azzurri line up to do battle at either the World Cup or the European Championship.”
9. England legend Paul Gascoigne describes his love affair with several off-pitch problems in his book Gazza: My Story:
“I’ve just made a chart of my life. It’s six feet long and three feet wide. That’s the chart, not me. I’ve been three feet wide. Not yet, It’s on brown paper, written in white chalk, plus coloured crayons for the major problems I’ve faced, such as BEER, WINE, VODKA, COCIANE, MORPHINE, PARANOID, ANXIETY.”
10. Uruguayan journalist and writer Eduardo Galeano sums up what being a football lover actually means when he admits in his book “Football In Sun and Shadow”:
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ’A pretty move, for the love of God.’
“And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
Subhankar Mondal
1. Robinho’s transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester City has been the talking point of this week. That Robinho was desperate to leave the Bernabeu was made apparent on Sunday last when the Brazilian international himself arranged a press conference and said:
"I have told Schuster and Pedja that I want to leave the club. The coach thinks that he can have me back, but I am only thinking about playing for Chelsea.
"My agent has gone to the club a thousand times to speak to them and the club has not shown any interest in keeping me.
"Now that the club have failed to sign anyone else, suddenly they want me to stay…..Schuster is not my father, he is only my coach.”
2. Much was made about Real Madrid in the handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo and the Robinho transfer sagas over the summer. President Ramon Calderon has been ridiculed by a certain section of the football community and one of the all time greats of the club, Roberto Carlos (now of course playing for Fenerbahçe), wasn’t too kind either. He told Radio Marca:
“Calderón and Mijatovic are two people who do not have any experience when it comes to running a football club. “Lorenzo Sanz arrived for the people of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez managed to liquidate the debts and now, at the club board, you have these two who do not know what they are doing.”
3. Bulgarian international striker Dimitar Berbatov finally made his dream move from Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United for a staggering £30.75 million. He could have gone to either Chelsea or Manchester City but did not. Why? Berbatov made it clear on MUTV:
“I don't play for the money. If I want to play for the money, I will accept the Manchester City offer or Chelsea.
“Those who know me, my really close friends, know that I play for enjoyment and to entertain the fans. But the red shirt is a really big thing for me. I want to play for the biggest club in the world. That is why I am here.”
4. Manchester City have been rippling shockwaves across the footballing world since the cash-stuffed Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) took control of the club. The company’s owner Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim has made it clear that he wants to make Man City the biggest club in the world very soon and in an interview told The Guardian that he was looking forward to bringing a certain Cristiano Ronaldo on board very soon:
"Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious.
“Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160 million (roughly £90m) but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more; I would think $240 million (£135m). But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."
5. Brazil and Argentina have an age-old volatile and fierce footballing rivalry that Brazilian president Lula must certainly be aware of. Yet he was brave enough to admit that the current crop of Brazilian footballers have a thing or two to learn from Lionel Messi:
“He is the best player in the world. When I see Messi lose possession he runs to win it back or commits a foul.
"When our players lose the ball they just fold their arms."
6. Diego Armando Maradona has never quite liked the FIFA president Sepp Blatter and in the wake of the ‘slavery’ issue, El Diego had his say on the matter:
“He is there to serve us. He is our slave because without him, we can all still play football, but he is nothing without us. He doesn’t even know how to kick a ball.”
We are still waiting for Mr. Blatter to reply to this one….
7. Oh, it seems that Diego Maradona would prefer Sergio Aguero to Lionel Messi to become his successor. Just read this:
“I would like to see Kun beat Messi to become my successor, but it will be a long and hard battle because Leo is a phenomenon.
“But I have always said that even if Messi manages to surpass me, then it would be a triumph for all of Argentina.”
Well, if you are wondering why Maradona would like Aguero and not Messi to be El Diego II, then you should know that Aguero is in a relationship with Maradona’s daughter Giannina.
From the yesteryears…..
8. Italy-based football journalist Paddy Agnew gives an interesting take on Italian football and Italian football followers in his book Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football:
“For me, watching an Italian football team play, be it a club or the national team, gets me out of never-never land and straight into the Italian mainstream. Curiously, watching the Italian national team play can tend to have the same effect on Italians themselves, since one of the oft-repeated clichés of modern Italian living is that Italy and Italians only really assume a national identity when the azzurri line up to do battle at either the World Cup or the European Championship.”
9. England legend Paul Gascoigne describes his love affair with several off-pitch problems in his book Gazza: My Story:
“I’ve just made a chart of my life. It’s six feet long and three feet wide. That’s the chart, not me. I’ve been three feet wide. Not yet, It’s on brown paper, written in white chalk, plus coloured crayons for the major problems I’ve faced, such as BEER, WINE, VODKA, COCIANE, MORPHINE, PARANOID, ANXIETY.”
10. Uruguayan journalist and writer Eduardo Galeano sums up what being a football lover actually means when he admits in his book “Football In Sun and Shadow”:
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ’A pretty move, for the love of God.’
“And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
Subhankar Mondal
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