“Football is not merely a small business, it's also a bad one. Anyone who spends any time inside football soon discovers that just as oil is part of the oil business, stupidity is part of the football business.”

“The club is not a business. It's a populist democracy.”

“Whereas fanatic is usually a pejorative word, a Fan is someone who has roots somewhere.”

“Other than sports, only war and catastrophe can create this sort of national unity.”

“You don't have to be charming to be a fan among fans.”

“It seems that soccer tournaments create those relationships: people gathered together in pubs and living rooms, a whole country suddenly caring about the same event. A World Cup is the sort of common project that otherwise barely exists in modern societies.”

“Well, yes, but it's not about the football.""You're saying that football is not about football?""It's the sharing," she said. "It's being part of the crowd. It's chanting together. It's all of it. the whole thing.”