“Zidane is the master. Over the past 10 years, there’s been no-one like him, he has been the best player in the world.”

It’s only natural to want to select your best players and there is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play.

I don’t know if we are the best team in the world. I am lucky to be playing alongside some of the best players around. It’s a dream.

The England team must always be respected. They always fight to the end.

I have a need to play intensely every day, to fight every match hard.

Real Madrid is the most important thing that happened to me, both as a footballer and as a person.

I love Madrid. I am happy to be here. I have been here three years and hope to be here longer. But I am proud of where I come from and never forget the people I grew up with.

The door can never be closed for good to any player.

Zidane was from another planet. When Zidane stepped onto the pitch, the 10 other guys just got suddenly better. It is that simple.

I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life. There were lots of kids from different races and poor families. People had to struggle to get through the day.

My memories of events and games are fragmented.

I am supposed to set an example to young players.

Obviously fashion is a completely different world from football.

You can’t get bored of winning. You can win 10 games in a row but you keep the same will to snatch the 11th. You always need more.

If you are determined and confident, there is nothing in this great existence that can stop you from achieving what you want.

I have never had the opportunity to play in England, so I know little about it.

Scholes is undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation.

It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.

The worthiest people are the most injured by slander, as is the best fruit which the birds have been pecking at.

In teaching, you do not want to COVER things, you want to UNCOVER them. The best way to get good ideas is to have lots of ideas.

Strike when thou wilt, the hour of rest, but let my last days be my best.

I got what I needed instead of what I wanted and that’s just about the best kind of luck you can have.

But sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down.

My business is not to remake myself, but to make the absolute best of what God made.

And surely one of the best rules in conversation is, never to say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid.