I went to Japan to experience a new culture, and I would recommend that any footballer does that. But the main reason I went was to play football.

It's hard to know when to call it a day as a footballer.

Football doesn't do sentiment well; it's a cruel profession.

It's not easy for a coach to deal with a player who is in slow decline.

When Atletico wanted to sell me, I was told that I earned too much money and they wanted me off the wage bill. I liked that honesty.

If nerves undo you, then you're unlikely to make it as a top footballer.

I love the Copa America. It showcases all the classic rivalries of South America, all those neighbours, up against each other.

In the World Cup finals, you're unlikely to meet a continental rival. In Copa America, you know they are just around the corner and that you will have to beat them to win the competition.

The passionate fans, pumped full of adrenalin, think they own their club and, by extension, the players because they play for their club. They don't. It is the club who 'own' the player, and only while he is under contract.

Players should get the best deals for themselves whenever they can. Football is a relatively short career.

There were no Manchester United fans protesting when I left their club in 2005. I wasn't one of their most important players, so I moved on, worked really hard, got my breaks, and my career took off.

I found it difficult when I first started to travel around the world as a footballer. Hotels go from places you are excited to stay in to places you get tired of pretty quickly.

I have played international games two days after travelling around the world. Your body clock is all over the place, and you are waking up at 4 AM. But once a game starts, then your adrenalin kicks in, and you seem to forget the tiredness.

Some players don't like to speak to the media or prefer to talk on live television so people can hear for themselves what is said, in real time.

Online, your quotes can now be picked up around the world, twisted, translated, and interpreted to mean the opposite of what you have actually said.

Cinema is a mirror that can change the world.

There is no success you can celebrate more than the success of a brother.

When I was really young, I used to lie a lot. Now I get paid to do it.

As consumers, we are making choices,and we allow things to exist, and we celebrate the existence of things. And we can also boycott those things we don't want to be part of.

All your acts affect all the people, people that you don't even know. So we have to live with responsibility. We have to live knowing that we're not the only ones here and you're affecting somebody else always.

Many times when you're a tourist you can just stay on the surface and not really experience the place you're visiting, which will probably leave you disappointed. Everywhere has something interesting; it's just about being curious enough to find it and scratch where you have to scratch and stay longer and walk further.

Being at a film festival reminds me of the power of film. The power that we have in our hands. Telling specific stories about personal matters can start the debate that is needed today, and that connect you with realities that you had no idea were connected.

If we put our differences aside, we can do great things.

I didn't go to university, and so, every time that I work, I'm looking for a teacher in a way. I'm looking for people that I can learn from and to have the chance to work with people that I admire.

You don't want to disappoint anybody, but you know, you lose your voice by trying to please everyone.

I think film should raise questions, not give answers. I think film should challenge people to reflect, debate and get by themselves to the answer that fits them.

It's indifference and ignorance that stops people from doing the right thing.

We live in a classist, racist, homophobic society into which we are very assimilated, that's all. I'm not really proud about that.

Definitely directing is the thing I like the most because this is where everything you know can be used. It's the most personal process ever. It's the most demanding one, but again, rewarding.

In theater, you are there, you have a character, you have a play, you have a light, you have a set, you have an audience, and you're in control, and every night is different depending on you and the relationship with the other actors. It's as simple as that.

I would say doing film is all about trust and conviction. It's about believing in an idea.

It's tough to say where I live. There are some bills that get to the house in L.A., some to the house in Mexico, and some to the house of my father - so I never lose track of those.

We should be talking about celebrating our differences, understanding that those differences make us richer and stronger.

As producers, we choose who to work with and what films to get involved with. There's no rule, but it has to come from an honest place. It has to come from a necessity.

What we have in Mexico and Latin America is a wide diversity of voices, but in Mexico, for example, we haven't been able to get a lot of the movies into theaters.

Sadly, there are a lot of ignorant people that have access to a microphone.

I hope we see more stories where the heroes are real heroes, real people that don't need weapons or super powers to change people's lives.

I was raised an orphan... My mother died when I was 2 years old.

When I was a teenager, I went on an organised three-day tour of Rome. It was the worst experience ever. I promised myself that I would never travel like that again, with someone telling you what to see and what not to see.

You exorcise the things that haunt you. That's one good thing about any artistic discipline.

Every time I come to the States, I wish people would react to war like they react to tobacco, for example. Because war really kills in a second lots of people, thousands of people.

I saw 'A New Hope' on my Vidamax because I came a little late to the party.

Many of my favourite hotels are in London. I like the Covent Garden Hotel and I stayed at Blakes last time I was in London. I like the feeling of warmth and homeliness that you get from both of those places.

The first time I heard the Mars Volta, I had a feeling I was experiencing something that people must have felt when they first heard Led Zeppelin. They have the same kind of power.

When I saw 'Incendios,' it changed the way I looked at my life... and my family. It was very strong. I believe that theater has that power.

The first fight I ever saw live was the first Castillo-Corrales match in Las Vegas in 2005.

My father became completely responsible for my education and for raising me.

When I was a kid, if I liked something from merchandising, I'd have to go to the toy store.

For me, the relationship with my father is the most important thing that I have.

I was the happiest kid ever, but I did choose to live around adults and today, now that I have a kid, I don't know if I would let him do it.