The Footy Section

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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.”

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Wayne Rooney on Sir Alex Ferguson’s plan for Andrea Pirlo:

“Fergie literally said to Park: ‘Your job today is not about touching the ball or making passes. Your job is Pirlo. That’s all: Pirlo.’

“Pirlo was averaging around 110 passes per game, with 60 or 70 of them going forward and hurting teams. Fergie told Park, ‘He cannot be allowed that pass. You cannot be one yard or one second late.’

“I think Pirlo barely had 40 passes that game and 95% were backwards. Park was unbelievable at carrying out his orders.”

Pirlo later remembered it rather differently:

“Ferguson unleashed Park Ji-sung to shadow me. He rushed about at the speed of an electron. They’d programmed him to stop me. His devotion to the task was almost touching. Even though he was a famous player, he consented to being used as a guard dog.”

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Toni Kroos has admitted just how badly Bayern Munich’s 2012 Champions League final defeat to Chelsea affected him.

After losing the final in their own stadium, Kroos said he drank so much out of frustration that he eventually wanted an emergency doctor called.

“There was no other way to ease the pain. In the end I had to call the emergency doctor myself because I thought, ‘It can’t get worse than this.’”

Bayern had been minutes away from winning the Champions League at the Allianz Arena before Didier Drogba equalised and Chelsea eventually won on penalties.

For a player known for being so calm under pressure, that night completely broke him.

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Yaya Touré on his career:

“When I arrived at Barcelona, many didn’t know who I was. I had to fight for a place in a midfield full of stars. Guardiola asked me to play as a centre-back in a Champions League final, and even though it wasn’t my position, I accepted because I understood that the team was above everything.”

“Then at Manchester City I found my home. Scoring against Newcastle in 2012, or in the FA Cup semi-final against United, were moments that made me feel part of a historic project.”

“I always wanted to show that African players could be protagonists at the elite level, not just complements. And if I managed to open doors for others, then my career was worth it.”

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And they still chose to let him go...

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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! ❤️

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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…

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

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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. 🤣

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

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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 👏

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Spurs winning a game for once would be nice

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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!”

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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.

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

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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.