Top 96 Quotes & Sayings by Vincent Kompany
Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Belgian athlete Vincent Kompany.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
When I was a kid in my neighborhood, there was nobody that supported Belgium. It was impossible and unthinkable because there was nothing they could relate to.
Once I finish playing, I'm still a Manchester City player for the rest of my life. That won't change.
Football is so intense you don't have time to sit back and look at what you have achieved.
I was desperate to leave Hamburg. The club was awesome, don't get me wrong, but I had a personal issue with one of the board members. He was desperate to get me out. The first club came calling, and it was Man City.
As wealthy as you are, nothing, nothing, nothing guarantees you that through a breakdown of relationship, your kids won't end up on the streets. It's nothing to do with wealth: sometimes it can be down to other things, like the breakdown of relationships.
We've had a humble upbringing. You know, my father came through as a political refugee; my mother comes from a hard-working-farmers family. We've had humble upbringing.
Everybody is different. Some players need a lot of rest and just be at home.
Everyone in Manchester in general has a positive mindset.
Pep's tactical and technical assessments are like nothing I've ever seen before, and I think that's why people enjoy to see him fail.
It's funny: one of the strongest parts of my game today is heading, and that only really developed when I started playing at the professional level. In the youth teams, all we did was passing.
Maybe from the outside, Belgium looks complicated to understand, but from the inside, actually, every country is complicated.
When I was coming through, I had very little support from the older players. I always said to myself that if I make it, I never want to be that kind of person. I have a passion for seeing young players develop, so every young player who comes into the first team, I am willing to listen. I will give him everything I have.
If you talk to a top accountant about his field of expertise, it's mind-boggling.
I have been part of very successful City teams, but it was never at the end of a dominant season that we were able to win a title.
It doesn't take a lot to imagine what City means to me: it's been my life for the last almost ten years now. I'm grateful for what the club has given me, and I've given everything to the club.
I've been very lucky - I don't come from a privileged upbringing.
I'd rather give up most of my wealth to have the guarantee that I can carry on working for the rest of my life.
When there's pressure on the ball, you can go man-to-man on your striker; you've got the advantage because the ball pressure means it'll be a difficult pass to play.
I've received much from Manchester - a great career at the highest level, unconditional support from the fans through thick and thin, a lovely family, and so much more to be grateful for.
Our generation has been described as a golden generation. I hate that term.
Funnily enough, I think Gary Neville is very interesting... and talks a lot of sense.
I never thought I could enjoy all this wealth without putting it to good use.
As long as I feel that inner strength, I'll be all right.
I'm kind of the wrong guy to bet against.
Once you achieve a goal and you are on that high, you have to consciously pull yourself in to say, 'I need to have the same hunger and desire as when I had nothing.' That's the hardest thing to do in life. That is getting challenged every single day once you win titles.
I think people generally have a good heart and the intention to help.
You win the mental war when you have success. You lose it when you don't have success.
We can't always wait on the government to sort out all issues. I think they set policies, they set the rules, but we all have a duty to help as much as we can.
I'm an adopted Mancunian. This city has grown on me. I have a wife from Manchester and have three kids who think they are more Mancuniuan than anything else, which is a problem I need to address!
My mum was always more pushing me towards the academic side; she wasn't really interested in me having a professional football career.
It's a mistake to think that there's a difference between someone on the street and someone not on the street.
Only the very best clubs are able to pass the baton of continuity down through the generations.
I find football much more powerful than what grown-ups want it to be. It's a community to me; it's something very meaningful in the life of many, many people and especially the youth. And, therefore, I think it can bring social cohesion.
I remember always going to the train station where I grew up, and on the wall was written, 'The real wealth of a nation is diversity of cultures.' Where I grew up, that's what I saw, and that's what I believe in as well - and I still believe it.
I would say Pep Guardiola's No. 1 quality is that he sees the technical and tactical aspect of a game really fast.
When I was a kid, it was very common to go places and get racially abused, starting from age six all the way up until you got into the first team.
I think that's the reason why I'm proud to play for Belgium - because I can take ownership. I'm not saying that I'm not proud of being Congolese as well - but I'm saying this is also my country, and anything that happens in my country, I want to have a say.
I've been living in England for a while, and I am still trying to figure out why we have Great Britain playing the Olympics together and England in football.
Every club you sign for, they give you the same pitch - 'We've got a big project, big ambitions. We want to achieve this and that. We want to kick on' - and I just happen to be lucky that City was the one club that didn't lie about it.
I am 100% Congolese and 100% Belgian. I am very proud of it.
I don't want to change how I am, how I play, so if it means taking more risks, it's always going to be the case, and that's fine for me.
I was extremely competitive, so for me becoming a footballer was not necessarily because it was about being the best - it was about winning.
Racism is felt the most definitely in grassroots football.
One thing I am sure about Manchester is that people are proud of their history. They are proud of their football, music, the industrial revolution, and all the amazing things that were invented here.
I'll be connected with City for the rest of my life - as a fan, as an employee, as an ambassador. Whatever City decide or I decide, it's not something we can undo. We're tied to each other for life.
I've worked extremely hard. There's always that part that people don't see, the things you do behind the scenes.
I want my kids to go and see the world and understand they are privileged, but it doesn't mean they don't have the right to speak up and see what is happening.
On any longball, people try to outjump each other. I don't mind a big jump, but to be honest, the only thing you have to do is fight for the spot where the ball is going to land.
When City came calling, I researched the club, but when I first came through the door, it was weird: it was a big club but at the same time a small club.
I want to be involved as a fan, as a player, as a manager, as a technical director, as a groundsman. It doesn't matter. Whichever way the club sees me helping them out, I'll always be around.
I don't think you can underestimate the impact of the gaffer.
What annoys me most is it is so easy to focus on negatives all the time. All you hear is a lot of people - whether it is industry leaders or politicians - complaining about everything. I don't deny things are not always perfect, but the stage it gets is huge compared with the simple things that make people happy, like winning a football match.
You are not guaranteed to be part of that story if you don't perform.
I remember having a discussion at some stage and saying a coffee machine would do well in the training ground. Everyone was like, 'No, in England, we drink tea.' I was like, 'OK, I was just saying that I think coffee works as well.' Next thing you know, after the international break, we had this massive coffee machine come in from Nespresso.
Many players win the league for the first time, and they come back, and it's something you have to feel, to see in their eyes if things have changed or not.
The biggest pass for a defender is a pass forward.
I love the derby because of the banter and rivalry. If you live outside of Manchester, you can take it out of context sometimes, where you can think it's all hate, and I don't think it is.
I always believe that luck and faith will be on my side more than the other side.
I'm someone who takes on information quite well, so there's maybe a path into management. But I see what successful managers have to go through to get to that level - it's a completely different ball game - so I think I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
I've been able to come back at a high level which is something I'm happy about, not just stand on the pitch but able to perform as well.
Related Authors
Allen Iverson Quotes
American
Athlete
Andy Murray Quotes
Scottish
Athlete
CM Punk Quotes
American
Athlete
Conor McGregor Quotes
Irish
Athlete
Georges St-Pierre Quotes
Canadian
Athlete
Jack LaLanne Quotes
American
Athlete
Jillian Michaels Quotes
American
Athlete
Jon Jones Quotes
American
Athlete
Kenny Smith Quotes
American
Athlete
Kevin Durant Quotes
American
Athlete
Rafael Nadal Quotes
Spanish
Athlete
Ronda Rousey Quotes
American
Athlete
Scottie Pippen Quotes
American
Athlete
Shaquille O'Neal Quotes
American
Athlete
Stephen Curry Quotes
American
Athlete
Usain Bolt Quotes
Jamaican
Athlete