People involved in soccer are a talkative bunch. Players, managers, agents, reporters, even administrative officials seldom find themselves at a loss for words when called upon. The stories that make soccer what it is are defined as much by what people say as what they do.
We compiled some of the most memorable quotes from the soccer world this year.
1. Sepp Blatter
“This committee has no right to go against the president of FIFA. The president can only be removed by the congress. Even suspended, I am still the president. I regret, but I am not ashamed.” —Shortly after the announcement of his eight year suspension from FIFA
2. CAA Spokersperson
“During his career, Jose has sometimes chosen to leave a club, but only at Chelsea has the club decided that he should leave. Each time represents for him the end of a cycle, and the opportunity to start a new one. Jose hopes that his future after Chelsea this time will be as successful as when he left the club in 2007.” — A statement following Mourinho leaving Chelsea by “mutual consent”
3. Stephanie Roche
“It’s been a crazy, crazy ride. I’ve done so much stuff that I probably wouldn’t have done if the goal hadn’t been videoed, so I suppose it’s been brilliant.” —Roche magnanimous in defeat after losing out on the Puskás Award
4. Jürgen Klinsmann
“I had a very severe word with Fabian Johnson, and I sent him home today. He can rethink his approach about his team.” —Klinsmann insinuating that USMNT fullback Fabian Johnson faked an injury during their match against Mexico in October
5. Arsène Wenger
“There is a kind of magic when men unite their energies to express a common idea. That is when sport becomes beautiful. The unhappiness of man comes when he finds himself alone to fight against the problems he must face.” —On the beauty of football
6. Eva Carneiro
“I was surprised to learn that the FA was allegedly investigating the incident of 8th of August via the press. I was at no stage requested by the FA to make a statement. I wonder whether this might be the only formal investigation in this country where the evidence of the individuals involved in the incident was not considered relevant. Choosing to ignore some of the evidence will surely influence the outcome of the findings.” —The former Chelsea team doctor in a statement criticizing the FA’s investigation into her former boss
7. Mark Lobel
“It was meant to be the first day of our PR tour but instead we were later handcuffed and taken to be questioned for a second time, at the department of public prosecutions. Thirteen hours of waiting around and questioning later, one of the interrogators snapped. ‘This is not Disneyland,’ he barked. ‘You can’t stick your camera anywhere.” —Reporter for the BBC, speaking out on his arrest and detention in Qatar while investigating the working and living conditions of World Cup migrant workers
8. Don Garber
“There’s a development gap between the knowledge of our fan base and, in some cases, our broadcasters and the way the game has developed.” —On fan criticism of MLS referees
9. Wolfgang Niersbach
“That makes it even more depressing and painful to be confronted years later with processes I had nothing to do with. I want to make it clear once more that I was not aware of the payments in question. That’s what makes the decision to suffer the political consequence so much harder.” —Niersbach, in a statement announcing his resignation as president of the German FA
10. Francois Carrard
“But for the U.S., football, soccer, does not have the same weight as baseball, basketball, and American football. There, it’s just an ethnic sport for girls in schools.”
—The head of FIFA’s reform committee on the state of soccer in the US
11. Jose Mourinho
“The lady is a bit confused, with all respect. I’m not laughing, because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti. The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time. And for her also to think about me and to speak about me, I think she needs to occupy her time, and if she takes care of her husband’s diet she will have less time to speak about me.” —Mourinho, responding to comments made by Montse Benítez (wife of Rafa Benítez)
12. Michel Platini’s Lawyers
“By this decision Michel Platini means to express his deepest indignation with a process he regards as solely political and intended to prevent him from standing for the FIFA presidency.” —Attorneys explaining why their client would be boycotting ethics committee hearings against him
13. Jürgen Klopp
“I’m am not going to call myself anything. I am a normal guy from the Black Forest. My mother is watching this press conference at home. If you are going to call me anything, call me the normal one.” —Dismissing comparisons to José Mourinho in his first press conference as Liverpool manager
14. Abby Wambach
“First of all, [he] hasn’t really focused, I feel like, enough attention on the youth programs. He says he has, I don’t think that he has. The way that he has changed and brought in these foreign guys, it’s just not something that I believe in.” —Talking about Jürgen Klinsmann and foreign-born USMNT players
15. Steven Gerrard
“Going on the road, playing on turf, playing at altitude, playing in humidity, those are the hurdles that I’ve had to face over the last three months that I wasn’t aware of.” —On the challenges of his first half-season in MLS
16. Shireen Ahmed
“Women have as much right to expect to play on grass as their male counterparts. But the reality is that when some national teams have no food or equipment, is the ‘war on turf’ an inclusive conversation?” —On the unequal treatment of women footballers
17. Sepp Blatter
“If we had awarded the World Cup in 2022 to the USA, we would not be here.”
—During his press conference immediately after hearing he was banned from football for eight years
18. Loretta Lynch
”… to anyone who seeks to live in the past and to return soccer to the days of corruption and bribery, cronyism and patronage… [y]ou are on the wrong side of progress.” —The US Attorney General speaking in September on the investigation of corruption and bribery charges at FIFA
19. US Women’s National Team
“At the end of the day, we expect to be treated equally as our male counterparts. And we hope that, in the future, our fields and our venues will be chosen and inspected at the standard of an international match — whether it’s men or women playing on the field.” —USWNT players on their decision to sit out an international friendly due to poor playing conditions
20. Eduardo Galeano
“I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’ And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.” —The author of Soccer In Sun And Shadow, who passed away earlier this year