Thiago Alcantara Quotes

England against France is such a massive match; you can't get much bigger than that in European football. It's a huge rivalry.

The only team that could have competed with us was the Cubans. It's too bad they're boycotting. The teams we're playing just can't compete with our power.

Brazil versus Argentina is always a great game, with great football and scoring chances.

Anything can happen in the Clasico.

It would be a pleasure to play against England. They are one of the top teams.

United were always our great rivals when I was at City, and we played some really important games against them.

Any player would want to be involved in games against Argentina.

I spent eight years in Ukraine, and I played against Kiev many times.

I have felt like a 'juventino' since I set foot here. Here, you have 12 million supporters; everyone else has their team and then roots against us.

When I was a kid, beating England was incredible; it always had greater repercussion than beating anyone else.

Fundamentally, England, Spain and Germany were the relevant leagues I could see myself playing football in.

I always experience each game the same way, but the Clasico has something extra because you can't play one every day.

They are that same group, but I've got my own rivalristic problems. Is that a word, rivalristic? I've got my own rivalristic problems in the Eastern Conference.

I can honestly say that every time I go on court, I see the opponent in a competitive way, but not a rival.

It makes you hungry every time you see another team celebrate a championship.

Normally in the past whenever Everton have beaten Liverpool, the accusation was that they wanted it a little bit more.

In England, there are big games but nothing like the Clasico. Manchester United versus Liverpool is a really great match, probably the best over there. But Barcelona-Madrid is different to any other game in the world.

The first time I played England was at Wembley in 1991.

I think as competitors, that's why we get into this, to gain respect from the guys who have played the game, and you walk away and they say, 'He was a tough cover - that dude was nice.'

I was how I was in college because I had to be. I played angry. I played hard. I stepped on guys' chests, I hit a game-winner against UConn.

We want to compete for every trophy at home and in Europe.

It's always complicated to play against Italy.

The Qualifier is a different standard to what we will face in the World Cup in England. The conditions will be different, the pressure is different, double or treble what we faced here. This will give a base for all the young players rather than go into World Cup raw.

When you face Spain it's not a normal friendly.

I don't think the qualifying fixtures excite people. They're games against countries that we are expected to beat, rightly so, and then how many we score dictates whether it's a good performance or not.