Gary Lineker Quotes

Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, and one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always wins.

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.

Every act of kindness is potent and lingers long in the heart of the recipient.

The big thing is, everybody says it's being in the right place at the right time. But it's more than that, it's being in the right place all the time. Because if I make 20 runs to the near post and each time I lose my defender, and 19 times the ball goes over my head or behind me - then one time I'm three yards out, the ball comes to the right place and I tap it in - then people say, right place, right time. And I was there *all* the time.

To be honest, it would have been better to watch it on Ceefax.

If someone in the crowd spits at you, you have just got to swallow it.

You've got no chance of reaching the top if you're just playing for money.

I am not leaving twitter. If the mindless few defeat the thoughtful majority we are all doomed.

There's no in between-you're either good or bad. We were in between.

The World Cup is every four years, so it's going to be a perennial problem.

The best, most successful managers in the modern era are those who can keep a player happy even if he is not in the team. Given the size of the squads and the use of rotation nowadays, that's tougher than it's ever been.

Ageing footballers never lose their commitment; they just lose their pace

He's got great credentials by winning the World Cup, but he did it with Brazil - my granny could probably have managed Brazil to World Cup success.

Fella’s a genius. Best ever by a distance in my life time. Never really saw Pele… Souness, Gullit, Venables and now Rooney agree Messi is the best they have seen. He plays a game with which we are not familiar.

I just think to be a manager you've got to live and breathe and have this incredible enthusiasm for football, the whole thing. And while I love the game, and it's been a large part of my life, it's not the only thing in my life.

That's one of the magical things about the Olympics, Team GB will have someone challenging in a sport that we've never watched and all of a sudden it'll be the biggest thing ever.

Chris Hughton has been sacked by Norwich. Now? With 5 games to go? Utterly bonkers!

Footballers are more likely to work better if they get a pat on their back from the boss. A knife in the back is never the answer.

I wouldn't want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody's reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we're going to buy him.

...an excellent player, but he [Ian Wright] does have a black side.

We are in the entertainment business and we all know if you are top of the tree you get the big money. Those of us who have been in it are the fortunate ones but we understand that we probably don't deserve it as much as the nurses or teachers.

Ooh, it's too ­embarrassing to share my innermost romantic secrets - although I have written Danielle the odd poem. If anything they are more comedic than romantic. They used to be well ­received but that was before she started studying Shakespeare at drama college. Now I feel so ­inept.

A handball is when your hand touches the ball.

Messi doesn't have to do it in the Premier League to prove himself. The Champions League is the ultimate club competition. If he was in the Premier League, he'd be the best player by some distance.

When I see old photos of me on the beach I don't look too bad... but it's hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers!