Javier Zanetti Quotes

What gets me upset about with the newer players is their lack of intensity. They tend to go through the motions a little bit. They don't understand that you've got to practice the way you play.

I think it was the preparation and every thing Lombardi represented, you know, about hard work and that every game was important. So when you get to the real important games, you were ready to go.

I like to relax; of course I do! But when I am inside the pitch, that is it. You have to go on full on from the first minute.

You have to be ready for all the games and be at 100 per cent if you want to win in this League.

I've never run into a guy who could win at the top level in anything today and didn't have the right attitude, didn't give it everything he had, at least while he was doing it; wasn't prepared and didn't have the whole program worked out.

I don't ever want the players to relax in a game.

During the season, I'm always locked in one gear, ready to play basketball, always keeping my guard up.

I know I have to be ready for every single ball, every pass, every challenge. Everything has to be at 100%.

I approach everything, including sobriety, with the same mentality I approached sports with. You're going to put in the time. You've got to suit up, show up, and keep your eyes on the win.

You have to play your 'A' game in every single match and that's a good thing.

I've got the same mentality every time I step on the floor - play my hardest and just be locked in.

Practice makes perfect and if you practice battling and competing and working hard, then that will transfer over in a game. If you practice just kind of floating around out there in practice, you know that's going to transfer over, too. So I think the harder you work and the more you compete, then that's how you're going to play in a game.

The best way I knew how was to give 110% and want it more than them, and walk on the court and every moment of the match feel like it was the end of the world, in a sense. So that worked for me in a lot of ways. There were times that it hurt me, but for the most part, it helped me.

To be the best, you need to be the most well-trained and well-prepared athlete you can be. The pressure is going to be all around you. You just have to make sure that your body and mind is fine-tuned. Then you go out there and do it.

The difference between mediocre, good and great is you're able to have the enthusiasm for prep, to work to prepare to win the same in January that you do in August, when everybody says they're excited.

We always have great practices, and the competition is high, and the intensity is high; it's just about doing that now in a game and sustaining it for 48 minutes.

It doesn't matter if you're winning or losing. You've got to be the same guy; you've got to prepare the same.

In football, you only work for the things you can control. You cannot control the outside world: you can only control your preparation; you can only control your performances.

Patience, discipline - giving everything on court... This is what I'm trying to bring in every single match.

I always do my utmost both in training and during matches.

Things are never easy against whoever you play, which is why every game you have to be totally at it, on your mettle, and totally focused and concentrated.

Every game I play, I play to the best of my ability and play like it's my last.

In every match, I want to give my 100 per cent.

A champion must be ready at all times.

I'm going to compete every possession.