Pele

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.

A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders.

The bicycle kick is not easy to do. I scored 1,283 goals, and only two or three were bicycle kicks.

I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder why I am still so popular and, to be honest, I don't know.

Everything on earth is a game. A passing thing. We all end up dead. We all end up the same, don't we?

When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.

In 1962, my injury wasn't because of violence; I just kicked the ball and it happened. And that was OK because Brazil won; I didn't have any difficulty in accepting that. I still got a medal because I'd played two games.

No doubt, I am earning more money with my endorsements than I ever earned playing soccer.

When you are young, you do a lot of stupid things.

When you play against dirty players or very tough players, it's easy to escape because you know what they're going to do. But when the player is tough but intelligent, it's much more difficult.

If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much because it's the biggest sport in the world.

I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.