The Footy Section

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[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

DAVID VILLA: “When we won the 2010 World Cup and I joined Barcelona for the new season, Messi congratulated us.

“Piqué joked with him: ‘Don’t you regret choosing Argentina over Spain now that we’ve won the World Cup, Leo?’

“He replied: ‘Choosing Argentina is the greatest victory. You’re happy because you won the World Cup for your country. If I was with you now, I wouldn’t be as happy as you are. If I win it, I’ll win it with my country.’

“Piqué asked him: ‘And if you don’t win it, will you be satisfied?’

“Messi said: ‘I’ll try not to reach that point because I believe I can win it. It’s a dream for me.’

“Time passed and Messi eventually won the World Cup with Argentina, exactly as he had dreamed. He loves his country deeply and sacrificed a lot for it. What he achieved became part of his legacy.”

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

And they still chose to let him go...

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Can’t see anything other than a Bayern win tonight 🇩🇪

[Football Away Days @FBAwayDays]

Bournemouth star Junior Kroupi has shared a heartwarming moment with Alex Cooper, a much-loved member of the club’s staff, as the pair got matching cherry tattoos! 🥹❤️

Alex works as a kitchen assistant at AFC Bournemouth and is a hugely popular figure among the players and staff. He was also named Players’ Player of the Season for the club’s Down syndrome team last year. 👏

Kroupi and Alex have formed a special friendship, and their matching tattoos are a brilliant way to celebrate their bond.

A really lovely story! ❤️

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Como were outside the Champions League places going into the final day of last season and needed results elsewhere to go their way.

They won 4-1 at Cremonese, AC Milan slipped up, and Como snuck into the Champions League by a single point. It was the first European qualification in the club’s history.

United fans spent all week calling Serie A slow and a farmers league.

Five months later, Cesc Fàbregas’ “farmers” are all over Manchester United.

I wonder if they’ll blame the rain…

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Can’t see anything other than a Bayern win tonight 🇩🇪

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Reporter 🗣️: "What's your favorite picture?"

Ousmane Dembele 🗣️: "Surprisingly it's the image of Messi comforting me when I got injured against Dortmund in the 2019 UCL."

Reporter 🗣️: "Why that picture?"

Ousmane Dembele 🗣️: "Because of what he said to me: "Don't worry you will be alright". At that early stage in my career I needed that and he always encouraged me."

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Throwback to when a Manchester United security guard decided to stop and check the club’s biggest star, Wayne Rooney. 😅

“Better safe than sorry,” he must have thought.

Rooney’s reaction said it all. 🤣

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

I reckon Barca will be too much for PSG… 🇪🇸

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

This is how Sir Alex Ferguson used to deal with UK media:

"I had some of you banned for a few weeks. Next time it's finished & you don't get back in. Your job is to tell the truth as a journalist. If you can't do that you are in the wrong job."

Brilliant 👏

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

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[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Spurs winning a game for once would be nice

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

The problems Carlo Ancelotti had at AC Milan. 😭

Massimo Ambrosini recalled Ancelotti giving the team their free-kick instructions before facing Roma:

“From the right, Ronaldinho. From the left, Pirlo. Close to goal, Beckham or Ronaldinho. Anything beyond 30 metres, Pirlo.”

Then Seedorf raised his hand and asked: “What about me?”

Ancelotti threw down his towel and papers: “Damn it, we have too many good free-kick takers!”

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Spurs winning a game for once would be nice

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

In the 1970 World Cup, Puma offered Pelé a sponsorship deal worth $1 million.

The brand asked Pelé to tie his laces before kick-off so the cameras would focus on his boots.

After that iconic moment, Puma’s sales reportedly skyrocketed by 300%, helping the German brand to a record financial year.

The influence of King Pelé.

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Dani Alves when he joined São Paulo:

“Do you know that I’m the cheapest player in football history? I came here for free. Juventus took me from Barcelona for free, PSG took me from Juventus for free, and Sevilla got me for free at the start of my career.

“Throughout my entire career, the only club that actually bought me was Barcelona.”

Considering the career he had, that’s a pretty ridiculous transfer history.

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Yaya Touré took one of the less conventional routes to the top.

He left Ivory Coast for Beveren in Belgium, then had spells in Ukraine, Greece and Monaco before Barcelona signed him in 2007. Three years later he moved to Manchester City, where he became one of the key players in the club’s rise, winning three Premier League titles and producing that ridiculous 20-goal league season in 2013/14.

He also won the Champions League with Barcelona, the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast and was named African Footballer of the Year four times. Quite a journey from ASEC Mimosas to becoming one of the best midfielders of his generation.

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Man United have got to bounce back at some point, I reckon they’ll do it against Leeds 🔴

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Hard to believe how quickly Bayern turned on Julian Nagelsmann in March 2023.

Days after publicly raging about a dressing-room “mole” leaking tactical plans to BILD, Bayern sacked him and brought in Thomas Tuchel. At the time, they were only one point off the top of the Bundesliga and had just reached the Champions League quarter-finals with a perfect record in the competition.

Nagelsmann had lost just 10 of his 84 games in charge.

One week he was hunting for the mole. The next, he was gone.

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Sir Alex Ferguson had Paul Scholes, and still tried to sign Steven Gerrard.

José Mourinho had Frank Lampard, but he also tried to sign Steven Gerrard.

Liverpool had Steven Gerrard and never looked the way of Scholes or Lampard.

Says a lot...

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Come on Chelsea

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Confident in a Chelsea win against Everton 🔵

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Francesco Totti: “The best player I faced? Steven Gerrard. A champion! An example! He would be captain of my World XI dream team.”

Lionel Messi: “I think Gerrard is England’s greatest ever player.”

Arsène Wenger: “He was a fantastic player who had the qualities that every midfielder dreams of. He scored goals, he could pass. He had commitment and motivation.”

Kaká: “For me, and I have always said this, Gerrard will be regarded as one of the greatest midfielders ever when he finishes his career. No doubt.”

Thierry Henry: “I find it a disgrace that he didn’t win European Footballer of the Year in 2005 after Istanbul. For me, he is one of the best ever. Whenever you play Liverpool you know you have to get him out of the game. If not, it’s all over for you.”

Patrick Vieira: “The best midfielder I would say is Steven Gerrard. I really rate him as a player and a man.”

Wayne Rooney: “The best player I’d played for England with? I’d have to say Stevie. For me he is an incredible player, an incredible leader. He helped me a lot during my early days with England.”

Paul Scholes: “Who was better, me or Gerrard? I can answer that. Gerrard. Gerrard’s a great player. I wouldn’t be able to do what he did at Liverpool.”

Zinedine Zidane: “I have said in the past that at his peak he was the best in the world. I think it was the summer of 2004 I was having a conversation with Florentino Pérez and I told him I wanted him to partner me in midfield for Madrid.”

Andrea Pirlo: “That night in Istanbul, Liverpool’s fightback was centralised on Steven Gerrard. He was their leader, their star player, their man who made it happen.”

Pelé in 2007: “For me, for the last five years Gerrard has been the best player in the world.”

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Beşiktaş manager Şenol Güneş on Dele Alli:

“We gave Dele Alli permission for a small break, he hasn’t come back yet. It’s raining, that’s probably why he didn’t come. We’re trying to find out where he is.”

A few years later, José Mourinho was already warning him:

“You should demand more of yourself. Not me demand more of you, not me. Not anyone. You. You have to demand more from yourself.”

One of the saddest declines in football.