Cristiano Ronaldo joined United a year after me. He was ultra-confident, with the talent to back it up. He was dedicated, too, and practised as hard as anyone after training. You could tell that he wanted to be a great player, the greatest.

Atletico fans were always so desperate for us to win; it was like a religion to them.

To score is always special; to score in the Bernabeu for Atletico is incredible.

My compatriot Diego Godin is one of the best defenders in the world, good enough to play for any team in any league.

I'm happy to play as a centre forward or a second striker, like in the national team with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.

At Inter Milan, I agreed to play on the wing and didn't like it.

As a footballer, it can be enjoyable to do a proper interview where you trust the journalist to reproduce your thoughts.

Nobody comes back from a serious injury and is the same after a month or even three months. You should play in the reserves; you get your muscle back and regain your match rhythm. Psychologically, you need to build your confidence back up and you hope there are no complications. Even in a settled side, it's hard.

Two English defenders were among the finest I played against: John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

Football has changed, and so has the relationship between the players on the pitch. Where once some players would try everything to distract opponents, now it's harder. There are TV cameras everywhere, which have much higher quality images than before. There are lip readers in studios working out what you are saying to each other.

When I see some of the pitches which my father played on, I think that it must have been a different game.

I am not saying that I am at the same level as Messi or Ronaldo. They are the best two players in the world, but I am very proud that I managed to finish above them in the goalscoring charts, especially as I was playing for Atletico Madrid, not Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Ronaldo can score every type of goal. He can use both feet, his head, take free kicks, finish from close range or outside the box. He has everything.

I've played as a lone striker and enjoyed it, especially if you have good supporting players around you. But a full season by myself? That would be hard.

I had wanted to play for Penarol since I was a boy. When I was young, I would go to their training ground, but at 18, I left Uruguay for Argentina, and my professional career started.

Big clubs with one rich owner have been one of the main changes in football since I started playing.

As a player, if a club is desperate to sign you, then you can benefit from that. Desperate clubs are prepared to pay more money; they are prepared to act decisively and play you.

As a footballer, I have always found it better not to be too emotional. Better to be cool, consistent, clinical. Celebrate goals, yes, but keep your feelings for those you trust most.

The Japanese people and their country left a huge impression on my wife and I, and we found it difficult to say goodbye before moving back to South America.

Japan is a country that works well. The trains, buses, and planes stick to their timetables. When you try to change the schedule of anything, it can confuse.

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.