Maria Taylor Quotes

I grew up in a sport that didn't allow you to grow up. There was always the threat of younger competition. So you had to maintain the image of youth.

To reach the biggest club in the world where there are millions of fans and a lot of pressure was a brutal change.

I cannot see a situation when I won't feel pressure to play well and win.

Growing up, I was often put under a lot of pressure. Being an athlete, I've been dealing with pressure for a long time.

I play in front of 70,000 fans week in and week out, and I may drop the ball in practice, I may run the ball the wrong way, but once it's game time, it's game on.

It's tough to be a 15- or 16-year-old athlete competing around the country. There's tension, there's media. I had no idea what I was getting into.

When you're winning, you're a hero. When you're losing, you're a bum... I'm as bad as the fans, believe me. If they only knew how I hate losing and what we go through to try to win.

I have sometimes played my best Davis Cup matches away from home when you stay in the moment a bit more. But it is tough when half the crowd are spitting on you.

Growing up, we played sports nonstop. I mean every single day. As soon I got done with breakfast, I was ready to go.

When you don't play those big matches for a few years, it's tough to play back-to-back after that.

When I go to competitions, I don't have so much confidence that I don't worry or get nervous about the other skaters doing well.

Like many kids, I grew up sports-minded.

Growing up in Quebec, we were always playing sports. Your first athletic competition was against the kids living on your block.

I love to have the pressure of having to win every game, love the pressure of keeping clean sheets every game, no matter if we're 5-0 or 6-0 up.

It is hard to enjoy life in a national team.

During those years with the Iron Maidens, I felt I had to be great and really prove myself at every single show.

When I was in Vojvodina, it is not possible to describe. If you play one bad ball, one little mistake, they are, 'Oh, what is that?' Then, some players, they are afraid to take responsibility. They don't feel well, you know; you don't have freedom to show yourself.

Not every young player is going to succeed at Barca.

I'm fine with pressure. I went to Kentucky, dealt with it all season, playing in front of all the top teams and top crowds.

I knew my first game at Everton wasn't going to be a stroll around the pitch.

With Serbia, there will always be pressure. We are the kind of players and people who do not know how to live without pressure. Even if we play against Brazil or some of the other bigger countries, we think we are better than them. That is the way we are. People expect us to beat the big teams, and we have plenty of pressure from within.

I think any activity you have your kids in, you're all trying to live vicariously through them. And you're jealous of the kid that's naturally more talented or has the facility, the body, the genes, or the God-given talent. People get jealous of that.

Playing in New York, there's a lot of pressure, but me and some Europeans like the pressure.

I like being part of the Great Britain setup. I like feeling I'm at a race that is important and the pressure that goes with it.

Oh man... growing up, I played everything. I played football, basketball, baseball.