“Don’t put wings on me; I am no angel.”
“I’m no angel. You can see that. But every time I play, I will play the same way because that’s the way I am.”
“Goals are what count for me. It’s not about a battle with defenders. Fighting hard, giving everything and working hard on the field you have to combine with the goals you score. It doesn’t matter if defenders want to battle with me or not; I will just be trying to do my job as well as I possibly can.”
“The key for me is to score goals and win trophies.”
“What worries me is to be in the best physical form to score goals.”
“I have a go at defenders, and they have a go at me. We argue… Whatever happens on the pitch stays on the pitch.”
“People ended up not thinking much of me. They saw me as a bit of a troublemaker. It’s important to change people’s impressions.”
“Scoring goals is scoring goals. From a striker’s point of view, the aim is the same.”
“My mindset is always to be victorious, to win the match.”
“As we say, finals are not to play them, they are to win them.”
“I started playing football on the streets; I grew up playing football on the streets with my friends, and that’s why I was brought up the way I was. That’s the school I had – the street football.”
“I try to reciprocate and to give back to the fans with my performances, like a big ‘thank you’ for the love they show me.”
“Obviously, I have to enjoy all I have. People depend on you, and now I can look back at everything I’ve gone through to get here with a different perspective.”
“I look back, and I know what I left behind in Lagarto when I pursued my own dream.”
“In Brazil, if you have a son, the first thing you give him is a football. That’s the first gift – so my dad was no different.”
“I wished I could go back to Atletico; I’m not going to lie.”
“Life has many turns.”
“I have to be scoring goals and playing well to get in the team because, if not, others who are in better form will play.”
“There are managers who always say what people want to hear. I think that’s not good.”
“I’d rather have someone who tells me straight up what happens rather than sweet things that I want to hear.”
“Always, when things don’t go the way that everyone expects, people – the supporters as well – always look for someone to blame. In some cases, they blame the players.”
“I think it’s really important for managers to be liked by his players because ultimately, on the pitch, those players will give everything for their manager.”
“When a game comes around, that’s the time to be serious. During the week, the training sessions are serious, but away from there, you have to relax and switch off.”
“It’s important to be right physically.”
“I haven’t done great things for Spain – I can’t lie – but when I play well, they should say so. They criticise me for my character, but I also have quality.”
“When we go to the pitch, that’s all we want to do – we want to win – and when the game finishes, if you win, you go home happy.”
“You always have to know that you are going to leave everything on the pitch, every drop of sweat, to help the team win the game.”
“You just have to be prepared because in the Premier League, you are not always going to have more than once chance to score. When it comes your way, you have to be ready to take that chance. If you’re not calm, you know it might not come again.”
“I have always seen Drogba as the example to follow in terms of a centre-forward. He was strong and scored loads of goals, and he was a quality player.”
“I always wanted to win. Everyone has a bit of that in them, but I have even more of a will to win. Sometimes I might go overboard, whereas there are others who, yes, they want to win, but if they don’t, it’s no big deal for them.”
“I want to win and always have done since I was small. I don’t know if it’s in my blood or just my personality.”
“If I go on to the pitch, do things well and the fans love me and my team-mates, too, we take on that energy which can change a game.”
“Check my records: you’ll find I’ve never caused a bad injury to a player.”
“I consider myself a player who fights and gives everything on the pitch. Those who know me and appreciate those values understand what I say.”
“The bottom line is that sometimes the little things I do on the pitch provoke exaggerated reactions.”
“In England, the referees don’t call many fouls, as opposed to Spanish football. Consequently, you must be really strong all through the 90 minutes.”
“If I change in any way, I’m not going to be the same player.”
“Do I enjoy the aggression of English football? No. I like to play football. I like to score goals. I like to do things well.”
“If you do not have the team behind you, then you can’t do things on your own. It all depends on the team.”
“Every striker has their way of playing and their strengths and a different team behind them. That is very important.”
“A season is very long, and there will be periods where you’ll be very good and moments where you won’t be as good.”
“I have to be extra careful, but I’m never going to change the way I play.”
“I don’t pick tournaments to score or rivals or other teams to score against. I’m a striker: every game I play, I want to score.”
“Wembley is a ground with great history. It’s hosted games and players of great prestige. It’s always important playing on great stages like this.”
“I think that football has always had a passionate, aggressive side, with players giving their all. People have to get used to this.”
“Some people seem to think football is like theatre and that everyone has to play the good guy. But I think that you transform when you cross the white line: you’re not the same person as off it.”
“If you ask a million players who they would want as manager, they will come back with a top three list of Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, or Diego Simeone.”
“I am Brazilian, and that is not going to change, but I want to win the World Cup with Spain.”
“On Conte’s first day, I told him that I wanted to join Atletico, and he was upset with me and didn’t even look at me. Luckily, I started to score goals.”
“I don’t have a problem with any defenders. I’ve always played against great defenders.”
“I joined a club like Chelsea to win titles.”
“I don’t like losing. I don’t like to be in a losing position, and I show this a lot. I demonstrate on the pitch.”
“We always have to show our character on the pitch, and I show my feelings.”
“If you work hard and there’s not a good atmosphere, the work doesn’t mean a thing.”
“You can run 20km, 80, 100, and if there’s no spirit between the players, the coaches, as colleagues, it won’t come out as well.”
“Work goes well if you give your best with the guy beside you.”
“It’s important to keep winning games.”
“I never complained about my teammates, and I have to thank them because they always supported me and never allowed me to give up.”
“Everyone has to be their own critic.”
“I do my best; I go onto the pitch and I play to the best of my ability.”
“I thought it was very important to keep growing with Atletico and to play there for many years.”
“In life, anything can happen, and I do not close the door to anything.”
“I want to be on the pitch, and I want to be cool.”
“Sometimes I even tell my relatives and my friends that I get a lot of love from the fans, and I’m not sure if it’s deserved.”
“I don’t need to hit people in order to play good football. I’m not a boxer after all.”
“I always commit myself to the teams I play for and always want to win. I hate losing. It’s just that, at times, I go about things the wrong way, and that created problems.”
“I grew up thinking a bit of pushing and shoving was completely normal. Then I suddenly learned that if you kick another player, you get in trouble. Nobody had ever reprimanded me for that before.”
“Atletico know I have a special feeling for the team. I lived the best moment of my career there.”
“Chelsea’s fans love me a lot, even more than in Atletico. Figure that!”
“I’ve done everything to come back to Atletico, but I wouldn’t fight the same to return. When Atletico didn’t wait for me, I had to go to Conte with the tail between my legs.”
“I’m just like that: I just always try to win, to get better, do my best, and it always annoys me to lose.”
“I think anyone in life, everyone in the world, no matter what work they do, they should think of wanting to get on, to win, improve.”
“I don’t think I am the type of person who thinks, ‘I dunno. Things are getting on top of me.’ It’s not that I think I’m any different to most people. I always make a big effort, to fight with all my strength, make the best of a situation, and always want to win.”
“The truth is I’m fairly relaxed.”
“You know when you have a manager that is always successful, is always in the title race and always playing in the Champions League.”
“The best way to attack is to defend well.”
“Many times players have done stuff to me, like kick me. But I’m not a cry baby.”
“I will not change unless my manager or the people from my club or my supporters tell me.”
“I give no quarter, and I ask for none. Out there, I’m going to fight for my team and do the best I can.”
“Afterwards, when the match is over, I have my family and my friends. I have fun like a normal person.”
“It is not easy for me to pick out one goal or match as my favourite, but if I had to choose one Wembley memory, it would probably be my free-kick against Portsmouth in 2010.”
“Put me there on the pitch if you want to see how much it means to me or how hungry I am to win more medals.”
“I can only watch calmly if the match is decided or my team are dominating. But I get passionate very easily.”
“I don’t go into a game with specific targets. I don’t pinpoint an opposing player before a match, trying to exploit a kind of weakness.”
“If you pinpointed someone before the kick-off, probably you would become embroiled in a fight, and you would be distracted from what really matters and not play well.”
“Football is my life, and I cannot imagine myself doing anything other than playing this game.”
“I am glad I have given my family the life I wanted for them. That is my responsibility.”
“Jose Mourinho has been really clear about what he expects from me, saying he wants me working hard rather than just scoring. Hard work is what he values.”
“On the pitch, I will always be like that. That’s my character, and I will always compete and compete – always. I’m a different guy off the pitch, as you can see, but on the pitch, I will not change.”
“I want to be competitive; I want to run all over – I want to win.”
“I can accept defeat, but I love to win and be competitive. It is my job, and I love it.”
“I train all week just to play for 90 minutes. I love playing games, and so during those 90 minutes, it’s always 100 per cent.”
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