The year in quotes

By Simon Hart

If footballers have a capacity to enthrall us with their actions on the pitch, they can also prove pretty entertaining with their words off it. uefa.com picks out the quotes of the year.

On Saturday nights I watch football from 8pm until midnight. You can see the French version of Match Of The Day, then a Spanish match, and then our Match Of The Day. Then I may watch a film because it is hard to sleep - Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger describes a relaxing night away from football.

Stars? I can see only clouds here - Wenger's January signing, José Antonio Reyes is not impressed by the London weather.

I'm not abandoning Inter. I'm still the owner - Massimo Moratti after stepping down as FC Internazionale Milano president.

Fate brought me up against my friends today. It upset me to beat them but I can't think about it too much - AS Monaco FC's on-loan striker Fernando Morientes restrains himself after his goals knocked Real Madrid CF, the Spaniard's club, out of the UEFA Champions League.

If we manage to beat Milan on Tuesday, I will do the Pilgrim's Walk to Santiago de Compostela, on my knees if I have to - RC Deportivo La Coruña overturned a 4-1 first-leg deficit in their Champions League quarter-final against AC Milan and coach Javier Irureta made his pilgrimage.

I might just surprise everyone and name him Juan or San Miguel - Victoria Beckham considers a name for her and husband David's third child.

I have not one single thought of when I will end my playing career because I just love football. So far my body has withstood everything - Valencia CF left-back Amedeo Carboni won the UEFA Cup aged 39 years and 43 days, yet still wants more.

The Portuguese flag flies on top of Europe - Derlei revels in FC Porto's Champions League final win.

When he arrived here, he had an excellent right foot but his left foot and his heading were fourth division standard. To his credit he has improved both since - AJ Auxerre coach Guy Roux on his Liverpool FC-bound striker Djibril Cissé.

He is 18 years old but he just went out there and played like he'd been around for ever, with no fear - Jürgen Klinsmann hails Wayne Rooney's performances for England at UEFA EURO 2004™.

I am more of a man than all of you put together - Christian Vieri gets heavy with the Italian press after they wrote he had rowed with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon after the 1-1 EURO 2004™ draw with Sweden.

In my time as an international I have been called a sausage, a dwarf and a sheep. No, not a sheep because we managed to beat the Faroe Islands - Jens Jeremies looks on the bright side following Germany's early exit.

With hard work and a Greek soul, a dream has come true - Stylianos Giannakopoulos on Greece's triumph at EURO 2004™.

Olympus has new Greek gods. Now tear down the walls to welcome the heroes home - Greek newspaper Sportime hails the new European champions.

We ask for forgiveness from everyone in Portugal because we weren't able to achieve the goal that we all wanted. It's hard to lose this way - to play a game this way, without goals. They won defensively - Defeat against Greece leaves a bitter taste for Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

I just kicked it very hard and I think the goalkeeper was blinded by the sun - Spain women's Under-19 captain Iraia explains the science of her winning goal against Germany that won them the European crown in Finland.

I am a European champion and I am not one of those managers you can take out of a bottle. I am special - José Mourinho steps confidently into the manager's seat at Chelsea FC.

Everyone who knows their football in Spain knows about the history of Liverpool Football Club. We know about the Beatles also - Rafael Benítez announces his arrival at Liverpool.

Everyone is talking about sexy football to me. But that is not what I want to achieve with Feyenoord. I want to win points - A pragmatic-sounding Ruud Gullit returns to coaching at Feyenoord.

At the beginning I tried to mimic his moves in training. But I soon gave up. He is too good for me - Ludovic Giuly struggles to keep up with his new FC Barcelona team-mate Ronaldinho.

I don't give a damn how it looks - Rudi Völler leaves AS Roma in late September after just four matches in charge.

He could be the player of the century - Fenerbahçe SK coach Christoph Daum jumps on the Rooney bandwagon after the teenager's debut hat-trick for Manchester United FC.

I don't know what substances other teams were using when we were competing for the title in those years. I only know that our doping came from bread, salami and a good glass of wine - Former Parma FC coach Nevio Scala comments on Juventus FC doctor Riccardo Agricola's conviction for doping.

Not many international coaches put their faith in unemployed players - Greece coach Otto Rehhagel on Vassilios Tsiartas, without a club but capable of scoring the free-kick that earned Greece a draw in Ukraine in FIFA World Cup qualifying.

I told my son he is not allowed to come home for a while - De Graafschap coach Gert Kruys is not a happy father after his son Ricky's winning goal for Dutch Eredivisie opponents FC Utrecht.

I had only counted on 34 points over the whole season, and now we already have 34. I do not want 60 points. That is why I am going to sell some players during the winter break - RAA Louviéroise president Filippo Gaone sounds less than thrilled by his side's excellent form in Belgium.

How has football come to this? The truth is that this matter troubles me a lot - Johan Cruyff questions Barcelona's attempts to sign 12-year-old Argentinian Erik Lamera from CA River Plate.