"We had some great established players: David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry... why didn't it work? I've no idea. We tried to be successful. We maybe never had the squad, we had the startling 11 which was very good but going into the tournament we maybe never had that back-up. But I think we had a great team, we were unlucky on a couple of occasions, going out on penalties." Wayne Rooney discussing why England’s ‘Golden Generation’ failed to perform at a major tournament

"If I tell you about a great manager, but one who is completely crazy: Van Gaal. He goes a bit too far sometimes. One day, in a game for the starters against the substitutes, with him as referee, the goalkeeper gave me the ball and I smashed the ball in his direction, aiming at his face. "It missed him by inches. There was a deafening silence and he said: 'I ask you all that no one else gives the ball to Demichelis'. We later ended up arguing in the dressing room." Martin Demichelis speaks to La Nacion on his turbulent relationship with former boss Louis van Gaal

"As a rival you can try and stop [Messi] but we always knew that it was very difficult. As a team-mate it is different because he can change the face of the game and he is still a very humble person, he has a lot of respect for everybody and that makes him even more legendary." Clement Lenglet talks with Goal about Barcelona team-mate Leo Messi

Former Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart pokes fun at his for Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp after hanging up his boots

"I grew up watching the French national team. I liked all the players – Zidane, Thuram, Desailly, Pires, Karembeu, Makelele – but especially Thierry Henry. I met him last year. He came to a game. I couldn’t believe it! I had to go up and tell him I was such a fan. I was star-struck – it was Thierry Henry! We exchanged contacts and he invited me to his house in London. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life." Houston Rockets star Clint Capela

"We Italian coaches have a great culture of work and when you join a new club you can't change everything, you must try and do it very gradually. Each coach must be a good tailor and adapt their beliefs to the human material that they have at their disposal." Antonio Conte with Marca on the ethos of Italian coaches

"It is his personality. It's the player he is. He is a great player; he is very talented. Every great player has a great personality. I've known that with Zlatan. I see that with Cristiano. Messi is also like that. Kylian will be a great player. He is already. He is doing big things. It's good; we need players like him. So, I encourage him to stay like that." France team-mate Blaise Matuidi discusses teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe's star persona

Manchester City and France full-back Benjamin Mendy takes up a request from United States President Donald Trump

"Most of us had tears in our eyes. To see your child on the world stage, singing the national anthem, it’s pretty hard not to burst into tears. There’s nothing like it." Jackie Leat, mother of New Zealand's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup goalkeeper Anna Leat, on seeing her daughter in action at Uruguay 2018

"I've talked to [Paul] Pogba and [Raheem] Sterling and they are happy to see me trying, they say 'come on, you can do it'. They support me, so I'm not going to worry about some simple players saying some things about me because I have high-level players knowing this is a dream and what I want to do. This is not about the money. This is a dream, and I want to try and see how good I can be." Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt reacts to criticism as he looks to make it as a professional footballer

"There is no bad time to laugh. I always joke, even five minutes before a game. It's not bad to stay a little immature. There is so much pressure in football that a little bit of 'joie de vivre', a little bit of fun doesn't hurt in this environment." Kylain Mbappe talks to RTS about maintaining a sense of humour in football

Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United and Belgium opts for a drastic change of hairstyle....

...but AS Roma have ensured the shorn afro has gone to good use.

"We’ve talked about the Arsenal team that went right through the season without losing a game and the more you look at the City team, I don’t see where they are going to get beat." Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes tells the Premier League that current champions City could mimic Arsenal’s Invincibles and remain unbeaten in the league

"What happened was just pure bad luck but, when you do a book or film, especially with people who have won Oscars and made films such as Amy (Winehouse) and Senna, you must be as honest and open as you can." Steven Gerrard in conversation with the Daily Mail about having to relive his infamous slip against Chelsea as part of the biopic Make Us Dream

Borussia Dortmund's up-and-coming centre-back Manuel Akanji shows his defence talent is matched by his mathematical prowess!

"As a coach I need to learn a lot and for that reason I think I will go to Manchester and Mourinho to ask him a lot of things. Because he is the best without doubt. For me yes [he is better than Pep], Mou is the best." Diego Maradona talks with Marca about who he would go to in the coaching world for advice