Swearing's my release, and the one weapon I have to defend myself against destiny when it elects to strike without pity. - Andrea Pirlo

I thought about quitting after Istanbul because nothing made sense any more...I no longer felt like a man. All of a sudden, football had become the least important thing, precisely because it was the most important: a very painful contradiction. I didn't dare look in the mirror in case my reflection spat back at me. The only possible solution I could think of was to retire.

The perfect moment to let your hair down is usually after a triumph, because defeats deserve a different kind of reaction...When you lose, it's all about thinking and reflecting. When you win, burping takes priority.

You're forced to tell the media a lot of crap; provided, of course, that they manage to ask you the right question...You read a dull, lifeless script written by press officers with no talent or creative spark.