Playing football and presenting TV are totally different things, but there are similarities: it's exciting, it can go well, it can go badly... the difference is when presenting goes badly, it doesn't really affect anyone's life, whereas when you have a bad day on the pitch, it affects people's moods for a whole week.
Interpretation
Football and TV presenting are different but share excitement; however, the stakes are higher in football.
In this quote, Gary Lineker highlights the distinct yet exciting nature of playing football compared to presenting on television. He emphasizes that while both roles can lead to thrilling moments and challenges, the impact of failure on the football pitch is significantly greater, affecting fans' emotions and experiences, in contrast to a poorly delivered TV segment which tends to have a lesser emotional toll.
In practice
During a sports presentation, you might reference this quote to discuss the emotional weight of sports.
Fundamentally, footballers don't look around a dressing room and think, 'He's a black player... he's Japanese.' They don't think like that. They think, 'He's a good player; he can help. He's not very good.' I'm not trying to defend anyone's actions, but there are going to be isolated incidents because it's an emotive, passionate sport.
The big thing is, everybody says it's being in the right place at the right time. But it's more than that, it's being in the right place all the time. Because if I make 20 runs to the near post and each time I lose my defender, and 19 times the ball goes over my head or behind me - then one time I'm three yards out, the ball comes to the right place and I tap it in - then people say, right place, right time. And I was there *all* the time.
Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.
I watched Leicester City lose in the 1969 FA Cup final with my dad and granddad when I was eight and cried all the way home. I have seen them get promoted and relegated. I played for them for eight years. I even got a group of like-minded fans and friends to stump up a few quid to salvage the club when they went into liquidation.
Almost all of us growing up have played baseball on some level. It has an inside track with people. It has a unifying effect.
To see my country lose a football match is very hard for someone who has worn the shirt.
It's never over until we're shaking hands at the net. Then you've either won or you've lost, and - either way - you look them in the eye and say, 'Well played, mate.'
I have the opportunity to be part of swimming history. To take the sport to a new level would be an honor for me. There's no better time to try this than now.
When I started playing, there were no teams and no structure, so I had to play with the boys. I get very emotional when I think about the humiliation that I've suffered playing football.
I don't need to come back to Wimbledon every year because I can't live without it. I'd be totally cool without tennis.
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