Saturday 08 July 2017, 10:52

The Week in Quotes

"Ronaldinho brought the smile and the magic, Iniesta the balance and Leo the art and the genius. Ronnie started this change but the one who changed the tone of Barca is Messi. This is the age of Messi." Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, speaking to Mundo Deportivo, after agreeing a new contract with the Argentinian forward

"Germany has never won this trophy in our history. So this team and this victory will go down in history. The team absolutely deserved it and that's why we're all super happy." Germany coach Joachim Low after winning the FIFA Confederations Cup

"I wasn’t that excited about football when I was young, but it did become my passion. I ended up living and breathing football. Now, I have difficulty walking because of it, because I gave more than I had to give." Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta in conversation with FIFA 1904 on how the scrutiny and pressure in Italy challenged his love of the game

“ is a great player with enormous potential. He is a fast player who unsettles his opponents and has abilities to score goals. He will battle with the best."

Spain and Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos discusses the French starlet with Foot Mercato*

"It’s something that I’ll always remember. That was a stepping stone for me. That World Cup made me." *Nwankwo Kanu, talking during a FIFA U-17 World Cup Facebook Live interview, on winning the tournament with Nigeria in 1993*

"I still believe that trophies and medals don’t necessarily equate to the quality of a player. Feeling like you fit well within a club is another thing altogether. It’s a different form of job satisfaction. You just have to look at Francesco Totti to see what I mean!" Lyon midfielder Jessica Houara, talking with FIFA.com on trophies and talent

“A thief in the last second – it’s one of those goals. It created such a good sensation. It felt like retribution for all the work we did in the entire game and it gave us that extra force that carried us through." *Adrien Silva, talking to FIFA.com, on Pepe’s last-minute goal which led to Portugal clinching third at the FIFA Confederations Cup*

"I like Luis Suarez and the style that he plays. I’m from Liverpool myself and grew up a Liverpool fan. It’s like he’s playing on the street with his mates sometimes and I just like that style, and that’s the way I am. Hopefully I can bring what he has brought to the men’s team to the women’s." New Barcelona signing New Barcelona signing , speaking to their official website, discusses her favourite Blaugrana star

"If scores more goals than me, then he can wear ." *Diego Maradona lays down the gauntlet for current Napoli star Insigne, saying he must top his 115-goal tally should he want to wear the shirt, which was retired in 2000*

"We’re going away with the feeling that it could have been us posing with the trophy for the cameras." Chile captain Claudio Bravo, speaking to FIFA.com, after losing the Confederations Cup final

"We have been living in a dream since February when we qualified. In our little nation of New Caledonia, to play a World Cup, it’s a wonderful thing, a dream. Like Vanuatu in the U-20 World Cup, a small country who did well against Mexico, Germany and Venezuela, if we can do as well as them, it will be great for Oceania as well." *Michel Clarque, **New Caledonia coach, talks to FIFA.com following the nation's first ever draw for a FIFA competition, ahead of the U-17 World Cup*

“They travelled to Russia and came together to form a team. This shows that we have a reservoir of incredible players." *Thomas Muller praises his German countrymen for their triumph at the Confederations Cup*

"I’d be heartbroken to see him go. He’s a fantastic player, scored tonnes of goals, from inside the box and outside the box. Romelu Lukaku is irreplaceable. You are not going to get one man who is going to come in and score the same amount of goals as he did. It’s going to take two or three." Former cruiserweight champion boxer, and passionate Everton fan, Tony Bellew talks to Sky Sports about Lukaku’s mooted transfer

"I like to imitate a bit sometimes in Italian, because he has key words that he wants to use. For example: when he says switch the play or change sides to the other side, those things. But he says it in a bit of an Italian way, so I like always to imitate him a bit. After we won the league, all the players said: 'Thibaut go to the microphone on the bus' and I did him a bit. We could see him and he was laughing and it was funny." Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois reveals his penchant for doing impressions of manager Antonio Conte

"I would walk into the dressing room and I would look to one side and see Messi and then I would look to the other side and I would see Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Dani Alves. I thought that I was inside a video game. One day I was playing with them on the games console and then the next day I was there next to them." *Neymar discusses his start at Barcelona with Brazilian TV show Caldeirao do Huck*