If African teams can realize the importance of team spirit they will know that they can win a World Cup.
I have had a fulfilling career for Pakistan, although our poor performance in the 2007 World Cup would remain the lowest point of my career.
We were able to dominate the world in the ’90s because the World Cup victory completely transformed us and changed our mindset.
If you have 48 countries in a World Cup, we have more countries who have the joy of participating.
We have a great sense of togetherness. It is our team spirit that has taken us to this World Cup.
It would be spectacular if I could be the top scorer and win the World Cup with Argentina.
Maybe apart from the World Cup, the Champions League is one of the most important trophies in the world of football.
To have the experience of the World Cup would be unbelievable.
The beginning of the World Cup is always a bit tough.
I’ve made peace with the fact that the World Cup will not define me. Yes, it would be nice to add that to what’s been a very enjoyable career, but I know it won’t define me as a person or cricketer.
I’m so proud to represent my country at a World Cup because lots of players don’t ever get that opportunity, including our manager, Phil Neville. He’s reminded us of all the hard work he put in to try and get there, only for him to never make it past the last hurdle.
If you look at the world, there’s only maybe only Brazil or Argentina that can win a World Cup that aren’t in Europe.
In the World Cup finals, you’re unlikely to meet a continental rival. In Copa America, you know they are just around the corner and that you will have to beat them to win the competition.
Here at Carolina, our World Cup opponents marked their calendars. Obviously the other nations wanted to win every game, but a big upset over the U.S. was something we knew other teams would cherish.
You know if you go far in the World Cup you are away for almost two months and I think it’s against human nature, not to have families there.
We hope girls are inspired to start playing at a younger age and try to get to a World Cup themselves.
Back in 2005, we lost in the semi-final of the World Cup and that was a great learning curve for the team. It gave us a goal and even more of a hunger to win the World Cup, so we went away and set ourselves a long-term plan to do it.
I said to Gotze: ‘OK, show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup.’ I told him that. I always had a good feeling about Gotze.
On TV, if you fluff your lines, nobody gives a toss. But if you fluff a penalty in the World Cup, well – we all know how much that matters.
At the World Cup and even now at the Confederations Cup, our security provisions will ensure the greatest level of protection possible for all those participating – both inside and outside the stadiums.
World Cup 2003 was the worst phase in my career, but that is now behind me, and I am doing all-out efforts to get my place in the team back and further my career.
In 2014, we won the World Cup without a big superstar. We won with a team performance where everyone brought something to the team and gave everything for the team.
In a World Cup you always intend to compete with the best.
I remember anchoring the World Cup 2011 show when I was seven months pregnant! So, I don’t think that my connect with cricket will ever end.
We have a very good history in hockey and when I look back into my own career, I know I do have a lot of FIH medals, I have medals almost in every tournament but not one in World Cup or Olympics.
The first World Cup I followed was Sweden 1958. I watched the games on TV. Brazil won that World Cup by defeating Sweden 5-2 in the Final and Pele scored twice.
It’s the inability to handle the pressure that makes a big difference between the Italian players and the England players when it comes to the World Cup stage.
The important thing for me was that the World Cup should travel round the world.
Clearly, those of us women who play football wish that there was more coverage. But it’s one of those things that happens. Every year the level is getting higher, and I think we surprise a lot of people when the world focuses its attention on the World Cup or the Olympics final.
Every player wants to be part of the World Cup.
Kenya is a land of great people, and during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, I remember meeting some Kenyan fans at the hotel where we were staying. It felt nice to see people from back home cheering and supporting me. Some even approached me; we talked, and they took pictures.
I think that all the countries that qualify for a World Cup finals deserve respect and if they are there it is because they have won that right.
Baseball and American football and hockey are all ahead because they have a history. The MLS is kind of new. So hopefully, in time, and with players coming and trying to develop the game, and the U.S. team also doing well – at the last World Cup, they finished above England and created some buzz.
I’ve played at a European Championship; to represent your country at a World Cup is every boy’s dream, and for me, it would definitely be a dream come true.
It is an honor to be on the cover of this game because the World Cup is such a big thing around the world. My kids are really quite impressed so that’s fun.
I’d love to go and I’d love to play for my country and go to a World Cup again. I’ve got to accept I’m not in the current squad and just think, ‘If I get it, it’s a bonus and I’ll give it everything.’ But it’s hard to do when you’ve been thinking a different way all your life.
I wanted to play for England at a World Cup and to grace the pitch for even two minutes at such a big tournament would have been huge.
My record of 13 goals in the World Cup finals still stands.
Premier League is one thing. World Cup is totally different.
I turned 24 in the middle of my first World Cup and it was quite an unbelievable experience. It’s really hard for words to do it justice.
I would like to wish the England squad every success. I would also very much like to extend those wishes to Martin Johnson, Brian Smith, Mike Ford, John Wells, Graham Rowntree and the rest of the England 2011 World Cup management team who have been fantastic and deserve people to know that.
It was my Dads dream for me to play for India. It was my dream to win a World Cup.
You want the world-class players playing at the World Cup, and you want them to do themselves justice.
I joined a big club like Monaco and it was extraordinary for my growth as a player. That gave me the chance to break into the national squad, win the 1998 World Cup, the EURO in 2000, and make the leap to Italian football.
If we don’t qualify, if we didn’t win the Asian Cup, if we went into the last World Cup and you know, we got embarrassed in any way, I would be the man in front of that.
It cannot be a coincidence that a European team couldn’t win a World Cup held in South America.
Messi is the best player in the world. If he wins a World Cup, he will be the best player ever.
I vaguely remember the 1998 World Cup. Michael Owen scored; I remember watching that.
I am Brazilian, and that is not going to change, but I want to win the World Cup with Spain.
I think we should not accept and tolerate racism anywhere, in any game, whether it’s a friendly game or a World Cup final, or it’s a Champions League final.
The World Cup is a tough tournament.
As a cricketer and captain, the lowest has the 2013 World Cup as it happened in India. Being the host team, we couldn’t qualify for the Super Six and it was a big platform to do well and showcase women’s cricket.
While I am most at home in London, I cannot really label myself as either British or Trinidadian. I write in the English language and live in the U.K. I find it hard to say that I am an entirely British writer, especially when I supported Trinidad in the 2006 World Cup and also support the West Indies cricket team.
I have scored some big-time goals. I’ve done well in Algarve Cups. I’ve done well in World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, Olympics. In big games when we’re playing top-five teams. But yet, you never see my face or my name out there. And it has frustrated me my entire career.
Being at a World Cup is a sacrifice? Twenty days is a sacrifice? What about the people there working for the team, up at five every morning? That’s sacrifice. It’s not a sacrifice to play.
The World Cup ball is very fast, and you need to think very quickly, when to punch and when to catch.
You can play basketball and have a magic night and score 40 points with your team-mates and win the game. There are favourites for the World Cup, but you can’t guarantee Germany, Spain, or Brazil will win, but here, everyone can guarantee that Mercedes or Ferrari will win the race, and this is very sad for the sport.
For me, I want to win the World Cup. If that’s not the goal then I don’t think you should be playing.
To play in the World Cup and try to win something for England was the ultimate.
When I am an old man, I will tell my grandchildren bedtime stories about when I won the Champions League, hopefully when I won the World Cup, but most of all, I will tell them that their grandfather used to play with Lionel Messi.
