Romelu Lukaku Quotes

I see it every week - parents shouting and screaming at kids. My dad was the same. He was always there, but he never interfered. Ron Greenwood, who was the manager of West Ham when I was a kid, wouldn't allow any parent to shout from the touchline. He thought players should be allowed to think for themselves.

I was so young when I started that I didn't really understand all of it. We'd show up and have the slurs being thrown out there, but my parents always dealt with that. They just told me to go out there, do my best, and try to win. Go out there and race well and they'll shut right up.

At seven, I played centre-back. When you're so young, though, it's more to enjoy the training and to get a feel for the game. It's not heavy on tactics of a position. We were playing on a half pitch, seven against seven or eight against eight, so they say you're a centre-back, but it's not like the real definition.

I had my first trial at Villa at five.

Every time Luis Suarez is close, he pushes defenders around.

When I stated playing as a kid the centre-back would pass to me and I couldn't catch it.

I'd gone to watch Wortley play in their home tournament but they didn't have enough players so I played for them. I got scouted by a guy called Sonny Sweeney and went to Leeds City Boys.

My first club was FT Gern. I joined through my parents and friends. My father played for them and a friend from nursery school took me to training once. I was five at the time.

At 14 I was the fastest runner in Denmark. I was nearly a professional goalkeeper. I could have been the rival of Peter Schmeichel.

Football in Murphy is very different. It's very passionate and you breathe football everywhere. In every square there are some children playing football.

I'm a massive fan of Didier Drogba, I love the way he plays. He's not as stacked as me but he's strong and he's still scoring goals. I'm a fan of Diego Costa as well. I think he crosses the line at times but I like the fact he doesn't allow himself to be bullied.

I don't know where sports in general will go. But when I grew up, you just played the sport. Parents just wanted to make sure that you were happy doing something.

I played with the youth national team, I played in some CONCACAF games, and it's always physical; it's always intense.

At Southampton, my dad was the academy coach at under-11 level.

I started playing soccer when I was 4 because my sister was doing it. It was my first organized sport, and my parents thought this was a great way to get coordinated and be part of a team. I had an array of options but eventually figured out soccer was best for me.

I started playing at six. I was at a school always playing football with my friends. But I was always bored at home. I asked my father if he could start me in a football team. He took me to a team called Rupel Boom, who were playing in the fourth division in Belgium, and I stayed there for four years.

Playing as a striker is a nice role because I spent all my youth there so that's why I like it.

My grandad and mom would drive me to training all the time, and from then - around seven to eight - coaches were telling me I had something special and needed to stick with it.

As a little kid, I wasn't even interested in football. The first time I played, I was nine, and I volunteered to go in goal, thinking it would be exciting to save penalties. In fact, it was really boring.

When I was little I got to dribble the ball around while my older brother Paul, who played for a long time for Kilmarnock, my dad and my uncle Jimmy - who was at Celtic as a kid and played with Morton and Cambridge City - kicked it hard and I got punted out the way. But gradually I got allowed into the game.

Scoring goals looks nicer and much more attractive than a last-ditch tackle for younger people.

When I was little, I always loved scoring goals.

When I was growing up, I played football, I loved football.

I believe it was seventh or eighth grade: I went to a Danny Ford football camp. A buddy of mine was a big Clemson fan, and coach Ford put on a camp, and we did actually enjoy ourselves.

When I was 19 I came to play a friendly against England and I really liked how they played and how passionate the fans are.