World Cup Quotes - Page 2

• Nobody likes being criticised, particularly by players who will be in Disneyland this summer on their holidays rather than the World Cup in Japan

  Phil Thompson

  Summer, Holiday, Player

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• I'm not prepared to make any comments on the World Cup in Qatar in 1922.

  Roy Hodgson

  Qatar, World, Cups

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• If you run a country and want to put it on the global map you don't have so many choices. You can get the Olympics, the World Cup or a Formula One race. And the first two are only every four years - and you have them only once.

  Martin Sorrell

  Country, Running, Race

  Source: www.formula1.com

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• The World Cup is a truly international event.

  John Motson

  Events, World, Cups

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• It is well documented that I am a lifelong football fan. My love of the British game started with the 1966 World Cup.

  Alisher Usmanov

  Football, Games, Fans

  "Usmanov's responses to Guardian questions". Interview With Ian Cobain, www.theguardian.com. November 18, 2007.

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• England did nothing in that World Cup, so why were they bringing books out? 'We got beat in the quarter-finals. I played like s**t. Here's my book.'

  Joey Barton

  Football, Stupid, Book

  "Barton: fans are vicious, misled and shocking" by Louise Taylor, www.theguardian.com. November 30, 2007.

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• I was competing in an IPC World Cup race, but the finish area was short and I came across the line with my head down and went straight through the fence. It was only because the Italian team doctor leapt out to grab me that I didn't smash through the café window.

  Heather Mills

  Team, Italian, Doctors

  Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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• The biggest thing right now is to know that I just didn't give up. It would have been the easiest thing for me to just go ahead and pull out of the tournament with what has been going on over the last week - just to be up there with my mum and support her. But I really wanted to come down here and play with Adam (Scott) and really try to win the World Cup and we achieved that which was great.

  Jason Day

  Giving Up, Winning, Play

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• Consequently, I won just about everything I set out to win, everything bar the World Cup, of course. But even now, I don't regret that, because I was part of a team which twice reached the semi-finals.

  Michel Patini

  Regret, Team, Winning

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• I've been through the process qualifying for the World Cup, which is an amazing, two-year process. It was an honor to represent the U.S. and to represent the city of Los Angeles and California.

  Cobi Jones

  Years, Cities, Two

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• It would make me a lot happier if I could meet up again next year with as many friends as possible from all over the world who I've met during my career. That's where the great opportunity lies, for me personally, in our role as World Cup host.

  Franz Beckenbauer

  Lying, Opportunity, Years

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• Neither Romelu nor myself were happy with the game he had and his reaction. He has apologised and for me that is the end of the story. I don't look back -- I look at the future. That is what interests me. Romelu trained well yesterday and looked happy. Every player wants to show himself in a World Cup but it is not going to change your life.

  Marc Wilmots

  Player, Games, Yesterday

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• People always say it's a shame someone as talented as Ryan Giggs or George Best before him never played in a World Cup or European Championship and I don't want my name to be added to that list.

  Barry Ferguson

  Names, People, World

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• I can't believe so much media attention is being paid to Fernando Torres and his loss of form, when the answer is staring us all in the face. It's his hair. His moping and ineffectual performances began just in time for the World Cup, which took place just after he substituted his dodgy blonde locks for a more serious brunette do

  Pepe Reina

  Believe, Loss, Media

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• Well, we've made huge strides since the 1990 World Cup, USA '94, and obviously since '98. Unfortunately, those strides only register with the public once every four years.

  Lamar Hunt

  Years, Usa, America

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• I'm half-Italian and my name is Portuguese. Michael Young is half-Mexican. There are players from the United States that have heritage elsewhere and it's a great thing to have a world cup to celebrate the whole world. It shows the world that baseball is important and how great the game is.

  Mark Teixeira

  Baseball, Italian, Player

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• I want to be more than just some guy who played in a World Cup final.

  Jonny Wilkinson

  Guy, Finals, World

  "Jonny Wilkinson: not quite Mr Perfect" by Donald McRae, www.theguardian.com. December 13, 2011.

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• I'm not necessarily proud of the World Cups and the grand slams won or lost, the amount of points I scored, this record or that.

  Jonny Wilkinson

  Records, World, Proud

  Jonny Wilkinson (2011). “Jonny: My Autobiography”, p.228, Hachette UK

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• As for the (Ballon d'Or) criteria, I'm not really sure how it works. Sometimes it's a World Cup year, sometimes it isn't. Let them vote. For me, there is no doubt as to who is the best, year after year.

  David Villa

  Years, Doubt, Best Year

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• My record of 13 goals in the World Cup finals still stands.

  Just Fontaine

  Goal, Cups, Finals

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• I think Neuer changed the game of goalkeeping in the World Cup.

  Oliver Kahn

  Thinking, Games, World

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• I wish everyone a wonderful World Cup, played in a spirit of true fraternity.

  Pope Francis

  Wish, World, Cups

  Pope Francis @Pontifex, twitter.com. June 12, 2014.

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• When I was a child, all I wanted was to enter the Austrian team and to compete on the World Cup tour. I had to fight hard to reach this. I wanted badly to win each race.

  Hermann Maier

  Stars, Children, Team

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• Football became my life at five or six. The earliest memory I have is of playing in my first boots, a pair of black and white Alan Balls. It was 1970, four years after the World Cup, and I scored three goals at school.

  Vinnie Jones

  Football, Memories, School

  "Vinnie Jones: 'It took me 40 years to see a psychologist'"y Megan Conner, www.theguardian.com. October 5, 2013.

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• The crowd is wonderful. There is always a superb atmosphere in the finish area. It's good for the World Cup. I missed it a lot when I had to rest and it's so nice to be back here.

  Hermann Maier

  Nice, Atmosphere, World

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