Carles Puyol

I could never have dreamt of the kind of career I had, but I was always happy with the ball in my hands or at my feet.

Sometimes I played as a goalkeeper with my brother and his friends - they were all older, and nobody wanted to go in goal, so it had to be me!

Champions League is a very tough competition.

What matters most is that the team always comes ahead of the players.

Development has to start from the base; the kids need to be playing, and the institutions have to come forward. There needs to be focus on grassroots.

World Soccer Stars presents a great opportunity to celebrate the arrival of football, and from what I know, football is the next emerging sport in Pakistan.

For me to be able to play football was a gift.

For me, it's hard to separate being a fan from the feelings you have for some of your team-mates.

My job will be to transmit - using my experience, my knowledge - with the intention of making the player more professional. I want to be a 'life-coach' who helps them to think, to make decisions, to manage their emotions with intelligence in difficult situations.

I'm not a big fan of revolutions. People nearly always call for them when a team that's triumphed a great deal goes a year without winning anything. For me, however, the experience gained in previous victories is important.

I've been lucky enough to play in the final of a World Cup before, but it's always an amazing experience to walk out at a packed stadium.

It's frustrating to see part of your body not responding - even more so given the way I am and the way I like to train and always give 100 per cent. You experience sadness, anger, and powerlessness... you really want to do something, but you can't. In the end, however, you have to be honest with yourself and those around you.