football

Jane turned and looked at Rob who was still staring into space with a crazed look on his face. __re you listening to this?_ she said as she thumped him on the arm. Rob turned to her and broke into a broad grin. __istening to what?_ he laughed. ____ loaded. I don__ have to listen to anything!___es you do,_ said England calmly. __ou have to listen very carefully.

You see football isn__ just about 90 minutes, it__ about passion and, yes, if you like, about life. We men will do things under the umbrella of football fandom that we would never dream of doing in any other sphere of life, and within the pages that follow I will try and explain why.

A game?_ Rob spluttered. __ bloody game?_ He turned to face his father. __his is your bloody fault! I__ living your bloody karma!

Two hours later, a noise resembling a hippo rolling along a corrugated iron roof shook Jane from her doze and Rob bursts through the living room door.

One of the things about football fans in general is that they all think that they__e the same. But they are not. This is a myth put about by people who wish that they were the same as the geezers. There are, in fact, a number of distinctive types of supporter, and although they all have a role to play, they are all very different indeed.

I crawled back to bed, knowing I was done for. Hours later, the phone in our room started ringing. It was George. He was not happy."Room 312. Now!" he shouted.Bouldy got up. I tried to pull myself together, splashing my face with water and hauling on my shorts and flip flops. It was a lovely day outside, the sun was scorching hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but it might as well have been a pissing wet morning in St Albans for all I cared. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach as we made the Walk of Death to Room 312, which I knew was Paul and Gus's room.When we walked in, I thought I'd arrived in downtown Baghdad. Water dripped from the ceiling. The board games were in pieces and all the plastic parts were scattered over the floor. The balcony window was wide open and I could see a bed upended by the pool outside.

The problem with winter sports is that -- follow me closely here -- they generally take place in winter.

There are people in my life who count more than playing soccer in Serie A

I've never bonded with anyone before. I didn't know that day on the field that standing up to him the way I did could earn his respect. He might have been an asshole homophobe but he was my asshole homophobe and probably the first real friend I ever had. I love him. Don't tell him. He wouldn't want to hear it.

Champions never sleep, the eternal spirit keep them alert and awake.

It is not over. Champions extend their limits and make things happen.

Once you learn to quit it becomes a habit.

Things that aren't important, that have nothing to do with winning and losing, don't have to be a rule.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.

[Books are] vital to learning. Half the population don't go to football matches but that doesn't make football any less important.

You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the endzone.

Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what the hell you're doing.