Jay-Jay Okocha

I have been following the Premier League very closely because once you have been a footballer you have an affinity with the game.

I believe an African team will one day win the World Cup, and it could even be in Brazil.

It's always good to have more than one player who can take free-kicks or penalties.

It is always nice to play for the bigger teams, contesting titles and Champions League rather than relegation.

In football, everything can change.

I don't walk around with a bible or preach to people and I don't want to disturb my team-mates on match days by praying in the dressing room, so I do that at the hotel before I leave. I respect their way of life and do not insist that my way is best. I have not tried to convert anybody.

I came out of a background of want, but today I give glory to God.

If you work hard, dedicated to what you are doing, and you are disciplined, you will succeed in the end.

I am an instance of what is possible with a lot of hard work.

Everybody wants to play in the Premiership and I like a big challenge.

I've invested in pitches and continue to run clinics to help encourage others to do the same.

You can't play football without having a good training pitch.

When you don't spend or invest in the future, you can't always get away with it.

Preparing well for a tournament sometimes is not enough to win it as you also need a lot of luck in order to win.

You have every right to set yourselves targets and whether you achieve it or not is entirely a different matter but at least you have to be ambitious and set yourself challenging goals.

I love showing off my skills on the pitch. You can make opposing players look stupid.

The way I learnt to play was to go out there and enjoy myself. I never thought I'd play professionally.

Nobody likes it when people dribble past them, me included, but I can't tackle.

My advantage is my skill so I have to use it.

I experienced life in a struggling team at Eintracht Frankfurt, but I was still young then and didn't understand what it meant to be relegated.

My Nigerian colleagues gave me a good impression of the Premiership and I am glad to be here.

Traditionally it's been difficult for Africans to play over here, mainly because the African calendar is very different to that in Europe. Most of the coaches over here can't accept that we have to go back home to play at the Nations' Cup for a month while the season is still on over here. That made people reluctant to sign Africans.

People wonder why I chose to come to Bolton. There's a different pressure and mentality here to PSG, where we were expected to challenge at the top every year, but look at our squad - quality throughout.

I've wanted to be a part of the Premiership for some time, to experience the excitement and the atmosphere.

When I was in Paris I was at a big club in a major city, but nobody really cared about each other. It didn't have that family feeling, I didn't see any team spirit.

I can proudly say that I had no scandal throughout my career. And there was no serious injury worries because of what I was taught how to live off the pitch. It was very important.

It's always nice to be among the best teams but not everyone can do that.

When you want something desperately and you lose it, no matter how hard you try to get yourself motivated, it's always difficult.

I don't want to stay on the bench all the time.

I love playing and I'll do everything to be a first-team regular.

I am proud of the part I have played in the development of Bolton.

Stars don't necessarily make a good team and that is what we must learn.

If you score goals late on it's not the sign of a lucky team, it's the sign of a fit team who are close together and fight for each other.

I got to Germany without being scouted, and without any experience of playing for my country. But I was given the chance to excel.

I was gifted with the ball, and I saw the opportunity of playing in the Bundesliga as the tool I needed to make a name for myself.

The Bundesliga is the league that made me, and it changed my life.

If I had the opportunity, I will ask every Nigerian kid to start his career in Germany. The structure they have in the Bundesliga is far from what is obtainable in other leagues.

Playing in the German Bundesliga gave me the platform to excel in my football career.

I don't mind if we play ugly and win, as long as we win.

People just don't want to pay to see players diving around.

I played in Qatar only because I had a great offer and I am not ashamed to accept. We played in empty stadiums! I realised what a mistake I made and decided to leave the club immediately.

There were very few TV sets when I grew up... We could not see matches and did not know too many players. Only Pele was a household name and he was the one most children idolised.

As kids, we were used to playing football with anything that we managed to kick and whenever we got a ball, it was a bonus.

The life was good in Qatar but I did not enjoy the football. For me, 12 months was enough. The standard was low, but not that low. It was OK but the ambition was not there from the players. It was like playing for nothing. I didn't like that feeling.

To be honest, I can live anywhere.

I don't have to think about other players. I'm more concerned with my own game and how I can influence things on the field with my ability.

It is a very physical league but if I can play in the Premiership then I won't have any problems playing in the Championship.

For me racism doesn't belong to football and it doesn't belong in our society any more.

Sometimes having the best players is not enough to win the Champions League.

My first World Cup appearance remains fresh in my memory and what made it incredible was that I had made my first appearance for Nigeria just a year before.