Viswanathan Anand Quotes

You need to be sharp the whole race, and eventually you start getting mentally tired and make little mistakes over and over.

Once you are on court, everything is different. I focus on the match.

It pumps me up - the whole idea of the bowler marking his run-up, popping at the crease, the crowd chanting, nerves building up. It's a very good feeling. Right from the first ball, I know I have to be at the top of my game.

There are sometimes easier games and others harder, but the Champions League always requires enormous concentration.

I decided to do the maximum to hold onto the lead for as long as possible. That is why I pushed so hard from the beginning. I was at 100 percent concentration.

Fear is not a word that describes what I feel when I step out on a tee with Tiger. He's the best player in the world. But it's more of a challenge. That's the word. Challenge. I love that challenge. I love that stage. To play with Tiger, and to see the circus that surrounds you, it makes me focus on my game. It's intense. A different atmosphere.

When there's an important tournament going on, I try and stay in a bubble. It's easy that way because then you don't have to worry about anything else.

Sometimes I just get over-excited. I see the pitch and I think, 'I have to get this wicket.' When I am just looking to bowl, I am calm and composed, and most of the time I get it right. The ball lands where I want it to.

Golf is played between the ears and if you are not 100 percent focused on what you are trying to do, then people will go past you no matter who you are.

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

Everyone becomes a lot more focused when you come towards the critical stages of the season.

I can't worry about techs. I've got to play my game.

At the Olympics, for those eight minutes of each fight, all that attention was on me. Either the crowd is with you or against you.

I spar in the gym, and I take pride in my sparring. But I'm a better fighter when the lights come on because it's right now - there is no tomorrow.

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.

Whenever teams play against Senegal, they want to do really well, and each challenge is always different.

If you're not right, you can make a mistake that will cost your team-mates a game.

You can't make mistakes against top guys.

Every flaw you have or lapse of concentration can cost you a goal, so you have to be on your toes every minute of the game.

Football is so intense you don't have time to sit back and look at what you have achieved.

Before matches, there is a little bit of pressure, but on the pitch, you forget it all. You only think about playing football.

Even if we don't play fantastically, with good passing and precision and finesse, the most important thing is to win.

You can't have two or three games where you let your level drop.

It could be very costly if you don't have a clear mind during a tournament.

Every game is very important.