Quotes

I think it is impossible for any Spaniard to imagine a World Cup without Spain. The reality is that we are not leading the group but there's no use looking back on what might have been. If things don't go our way we should still be in the playoffs but I'm convinced we've still got a chance of finishing in first place. Let's see what happens.

Just after I turned eight my parents bought a house in Estorde, in Galicia. Although at first this might not seem so important, it turned out to be because it was there that I met the girl who ended up being my girlfriend, Olalla. Apart from that, that time in my life was important because I made friends with a group of people who are still my friends today.

[When asked about what he thinks is a symbol of Spain in an interview] Our flag. People identify us with sevillanas and bullfighting but for me Spain has much more important things.

When you become an adult you just make that transition and you're right... it's fun and exciting to be an adult and exciting to have independence, but once you're out from under the cover of your family's protection and love, you sort of have to take a step back and come to terms with the fact that you won't really ever have that again in the same way. You'll never be a kid again.

I've always been a sad person. I'm a happy person too, but it's a thing in my brain or my spirit or something, I'm just sad and really acutely aware of mortality and loss.

When I retire, the only thing that concerns me is that no one can say that I was a bad team-mate or disrespectful or self-important.

It's not easy to come somewhere new and have to find your place. You might feel someone doesn't like you, or you might need to find new friends. It's not easy, and I don't like this kind of thing. It's not easy, so you want to protect the players who are alone.

Purpose without virtue is vanity.

I was captain in Atletico at 19, playing in the same team as Demetrio Albertini, who won three Champions Leagues, and Sergi Barjuan from Barcelona, who had won everything, and they were 32, 33. I was a kid as captain, so I wasn't the real captain, just a kid learning from them.

Football is a team sport and not an individual sport. We win as a team, and every individual is better if we are part of the team.

I always live in the present. I never dream about what might happen. Why? It might not.