Lukas Podolski Quotes

We arrived at the 2002 World Cup with two titles, very calm, well organised, maybe missing a bit of concentration. But the only truth is on the pitch. The dangers are there.

The fact that the games were so close was a tribute to the level of skill in the World Cup.

You can't rely on your defence to win a World Cup.

But I think the Champions League Final puts a massive pressure on every player and the manager, but we're enjoying the pressure and hopefully we can go there and win it.

I'm not spending every second thinking about the World Cup, but it's always in my mind when I make choices and decisions.

In football, the only game I know is the 90-minutes game. It's not mind games; I don't try to do that.

I am not thinking about World Cup and all those things. You can't play freely if you start thinking like that.

When I am on the pitch, I just want to play, I don't care if it is the Nou Camp or not; I just want to play.

Villarreal is a difficult place to go, and if you want to win there, you have to play very hard and very well.

This is the World Cup, and you need all the elements in place: a good coach, luck, and a cohesive team unit are fundamental requirements.

You have to show up in the World Cup, and in the World Cup anything can happen.

When you're in the middle of a pennant race, you can't go up there thinking about home runs.

Sometimes I miss coaching, but often things are not how they appear in football.

My aim is to play as many games as possible and to go out and be one of the 11 players again.

I'm used to performing under pressure, but that's playing football.

Football players win football games.

If you want to win the World Cup, you need to play against the best national teams in the world.

I always had a concept of watching great players, great goalkeepers.

This is football, you always have to compete to be able to play. When you're at a big club, it's like that.

When I'm on the field, I really don't focus on fans. I just focus on my responsibility, which is the guy right across from me.

In the Premier League you know you'll play a certain amount of matches so you can always think 'I'll put it right next week' if you lose.

This is football, and one cannot be distracted at any moment because the opposition can put you in difficulty and compromise a result.

To win games, we need to be focused for 95 minutes. If not, you always pay in football.

To me, it's just another game of football - 11 players, a grass pitch. Regardless what shirt I have on, it's important you win the game, and I'm competitive as anyone, and I want to win every game, whether it's a Sunday league game, a five-a-side tournament, or a World Cup qualifier.

It gives me a lot of confidence to play with my feet, and I have to be focused for 90 minutes.