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.
Interpretation
Footballers prioritize skill over race or nationality, emphasizing a common goal.
In this quote, Gary Lineker suggests that professional footballers focus on their teammates' abilities rather than their racial or ethnic backgrounds. He acknowledges that while there may be instances of prejudice, the essence of teamwork in football is defined by the shared passion for the game and the recognition of talent, rather than personal differences.
In practice
During a sportsmanship speech at a youth football camp.
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.
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.
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.
America, I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society.
Power tends to confuse itself with virtue, and a great nation is peculiarly susceptible to the idea that its power is a sign of God's favor.
Everywhere you look for comparisons of life under anarchy and life under government, life under government is less violent.
The land is so much more than its analysis.
The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.
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