“I learned all about life with a ball at my feet.”

I am very pleased it has all been resolved. I wanted to stay at the club and they wanted me too, there was never a problem. There were only a few small matters to sort out.

No one has nicer teeth than me. Why would anyone laugh at my lovely teeth?

No matter who you are it’s the simple things in life that lead you to believe that you can achieve anything.

The toughest opponents for me are the defenders who are tough in the way they play – where you can’t see a way through.

Brazil goes into every World Cup expecting to win – so when it is in Brazil it is expected even more. You can’t understand what the World Cup means to our country.

Ashley Cole is a fantastic defender. I have seen him keep the best players in the world quiet.

If you’re playing for five hours you don’t want to score goals all the time and I loved dribbling. I could score a goal, but I preferred to dribble.

Our confidence comes from our preparation.

I have never imagined doing anything other than football, but now, thinking about it coldly, if I hadn’t been a footballer, I would have been a musician.

I was at Barcelona for many years where I won a lot of things and achieved a lot of dreams. For these reasons it holds a special place in my life.

I have the chance to do for a living what I like the most in life, and that’s playing football. I can make people happy and enjoy myself at the same time.

I would like my Dad to be alive so he could see what I am.

I am ugly but what I do have is charm.

Paolo Maldini and John Terry are two of the toughest men I have met on the field.

I am passionate about music – and people think because I go to places where I can enjoy music I have to be partying. It isn’t true.

I still have a video of my father, which I watch before every game I play for Brazil. It gives me strength, makes me determined.

To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

Liberty without learning is always in peril and Learning without Liberty is always in vain.

Learning is a constant process of discovery – a process without end.

Be a student, not a follower. Take interest in what someone says, then debate it, ponder it, and consider it from all angles.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

I am still learning – how to take joy in all the people I am, how to use all my selves in the service of what I believe, how to accept when I fail and rejoice when I succeed.

Children have a lesson adults should learn, to not be ashamed of failing, but to get up and try again.