JOHAN CRUYFF

Ajax is a multicultural club, and we have found that many talented immigrant players quit when they reach puberty. So we wanted to tackle this problem with someone from the same background who had come through it. And that was Edgar Davids. During one of our fights, I pointed that out to him. But it had nothing to do with his skin colour.

One trophy is good, but two are better. That way, when a hero wears his medals on his chest, at least his steps are level as he walks by.

Footballers from the street are more important than trained coaches.

I look at Messi, and he makes me laugh. A beautiful footballer who is still like a kid. A world superstar, but still a kid. Innocent, you know. He just plays.

The disabled people that do sport, they don't think about what they don't have but try to get better with what they do have. That is the same for me.

My foundation now has some 120 football pitches laid out for children, a lot of them immigrants. We live in a multicultural society.

To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent.

Football is a game of mistakes. Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins.

I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw.

Without the ball, you can't win.

Speed is often confused with insight. When I start running earlier than the others, I appear faster.

Football is about having the best offensive play possible. I always like to play offensive football, and nobody will convince me otherwise.

Italians can not beat us, but we can certainly lose against them.

Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.

I don't want to be a thief of my own wallet.

You have got to shoot, otherwise you can't score.

Coincidence is logical.

Sometimes something's got to happen before something is going to happen.

Before I make a mistake, I don't make that mistake.

Every disadvantage has its advantage.

I wanted to get my coaching badges after retiring, and I asked to take the exam, but they told me I needed to study for four years. I told them they were crazy. Who is going to study for four years? How is someone going to teach me technical things when I know more than they do?

Coaching courses are still much too theoretical, and this is what you see reflected in the basic technical skills of the average player. I even see things deteriorating.

Ajax was spending too much money; they were buying players that were too expensive. If you get 100 per cent, you can't spend 120 per cent. It's quite easy.

It's disappointing to see how football, the world's No. 1 sport, is not No. 1 when it comes to development. It seems to me that a wealth of practical football knowledge is being squandered.

It's unbelievable. I changed the way Barcelona played. Now, Spain have had to change.