“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

When your own fans whistle and jeer, then you have a big problem.

Many a good beginning makes a bad ending.

It was the whole Trinity, which at the beginning of creation said, “Let us make man”. It was the whole Trinity again, which at the beginning of the Gospel seemed to say, “Let us save man”.

Every ending is a beginning, and thus beginning shall bring hope.

Spend less than you make; always be saving something. Put it into a tax-deferred account. Over time, it will begin to amount to something. This is such a no-brainer.

When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy if we have not lived out our own.

Meditation is acceptance. It is the acceptance of life within us, without us and all around us. Acceptance of life is the beginning of human satisfaction.

When your life begins to harm you, know that you have taken a detour from your true path.

To heal illness, begin by restoring balance.