Football Icons Quotes

When I played for Stuttgart, I met Manchester United and Chelsea. With United, I immediately think of the duels with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and with Chelsea, it was John Terry. Those players are symbols of their clubs and the success they had at that time.

Depending on who we're playing, it's just kind of, like, a little starstruck. You know, because these are guys that... I'm playing against Tom Brady or Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, guys like that that I've been watching since high school, that's been doing crazy things.

There are good players, there are great players, and there are those few at the pinnacle - the Peles, Cruyffs and Maradonas.

Dave Mackay was one of the best I've ever seen. Jimmy Greaves was the greatest goal scorer, and George Best was just the best. The greatest.

Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.

Messi is top but Maradona is another world.

An Ibra-Messi tandem would have been marvellous, but history decided otherwise.

I'm a Pele fan from way back when I was a kid, and then there was always this thing later about Pele and Maradona. I was young and impressionable as a kid but it was always Pele for me.

Maradona and Messi played in different times and in different positions. Messi is much more a striker, Diego was all over the entire pitch. They are two extraordinary players.

My sporting heroes were Ken Jones, Stanley Matthews, and Cliff Morgan.

When I was younger my idols were Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit.

My football idol growing up, I was named after Walter Payton, but my idols at RB were Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.

Ryan Giggs and David Beckham were the two players I've always looked up to.

Messi and Ronaldo are certainly the best in the world. They are both unbelievable. I am very happy to be a contemporary of these geniuses.

I think now Messi is probably done more than most players. But he is in the same class as Alfredo de Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Pelé. When he finishes and he retires, he will automatically become one of them. A player that people will talk about forever, while the game of football is as good and as popular as it is. He is a sensational player.

Maradona is among the best five players I've ever seen: Garrincha, Pele, Diego, Cruijff and Beckenbauer.

For many years, Messi and Ronaldo will be the two best. After them, there is Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and others. I hope to be in the top ten.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two players that, the way I see it, can have a spot amongst the best of all time.

I've never had an idol, but I watched Ronaldinho and then players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi. They are so good, it's impossible not to notice them.

For a guy not to want to listen to a Jerry Rice, a Tim Brown, a Charlie Garner, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Paolo Maldini never won, but he was the best defender in the world. Gianluigi Buffon never won; he was the best goalkeeper in the world for many years. But this is the story of the Ballon d'Or.

Paolo Maldini and John Terry are two of the toughest men I have met on the field.

The history of Brazil goes from Pele to Garrincha, Didi, Tostao, Gerson, then to all of us who followed them.

I'm very lucky being able to be next to the likes of Thierry Henry or Didier Drogba.

When I was smaller, I always looked up to Zidane, Messi, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo.