Boris Becker Quotes

It was a great time in my career, playing for Barcelona with the best players in the world, in the best team in the world at that moment. It was amazing for me. I can always say to anyone that I played at Barcelona with Messi, with Xavi, with Iniesta, with Pedro, with Pique. And we won a lot of trophies.

Messi is the same player in Barcelona and Argentina, and it would be the same if he played with Australia.

When I got to the senior national team, there was another Ronaldo, so they started calling me Ronaldinho because I was younger.

Everything would have been different for Barcelona without Messi.

If Messi is in the mix, that's who I want to win.

Messi is the greatest, but he has always been surrounded by other great players.

Messi is undoubtedly a gifted footballer, like Maradona and Pele, and he's playing for the best club side in the world at the moment. He's successful and he's winning trophies, so it's only logical that he'll be voted the best player in the world.

I think Pep Guardiola is a top manager. There's no doubt about that. Not only did he manage Messi and Iniesta, but he made them better and took them to levels they'd never been before. The best team I've ever seen is Pep Guardiola's Barcelona. I'm sure his management got something to do with that.

If there's a national-team player, he has to do extra work. He has to do extra weeks, and he can't go on vacation even if he says: 'Well, but I'm supposed now to have six weeks off.' If he comes and says that, then I give him a hug and say: 'Have fun the six weeks, but don't come back here.'

If I have to win one game, I’d have a hard time taking anybody over Dustin Pedroia as my second baseman.

Coaching is salesmanship. Coaching is winning players over and convincing them they have to play together. It takes a team conviction to play together to make things work.

If you're speaking of a fantasy player, then it has to be Leo Messi as he's so unpredictable. He's an absolute genius.

Iniesta is the boyfriend that every mother wants her daughter to have. The figures over his career tell you all you need to know. He is a magical player. There are few players in the world that can compare to him.

I've signed a contract with the Dutch national team until 2006. So I can win the World Cup not once but twice.

This Guy (Messi) is the Best Player in the World, no doubt about that. I think we're always nervous about calling people who are currently playing, who are young at 23, to say he's the Best Player ever. But we shouldn't be. We should admit what we are seeing in front of our eyes. This is a special talent, who may be is the Best Player ever been seen.

My ideal trident would be myself alongside Rooney and Messi. They are the players who make me dream - not Cristiano.

Messi is the best player on the planet and he keeps on improving at Barça, now the best team in the world. What Messi does on and off the pitch is an inspiration for children who dream of becoming a footballer.

The men can go away, the executives can go away, but what is really though in this society are the players who has been handed down the feel of winning, of being the absolute best, which isn't equal to any other team.

Messi is the best player in the world. If he's not already, he'll be the best footballer of all time.

Leo [Messi] is the best player of all time - better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff. There have been some great teams in history - Pele's Brazil, Cruyff's Ajax, Sacchi's Milan - but in the past 20 years this Barcelona team is the best.

I always support Argentina. I watched a lot of the European Championships but wasn't supporting one team. I knew some players in a few of the teams and was just seeing how they played. It was nice for Ronaldo to win with Portugal.

I have yet to be in a game where luck was involved. Well-prepared players make plays. I have yet to be in a game where the most prepared team didn't win.

A championship team wins because it already has established players, while a talented team is just beginning to establish players.

Cristiano reminds me of German tennis player Michael Stich. He was destined to make history, but then Boris Becker showed up. Cristiano is so fast, so strong, so incredible, but he has one problem: Leo Messi.

For me, Lionel Messi is quite clearly the best player ever. It’s a pleasure to put myself against him and when I finish my career it’s something I can look back on and know I’ve tested myself against the very best.