Sporting behaviour means fair behaviour. This is the player's task, not the referee's.

I have played football since I was five years old. This is my core skill and it will always remain so.

Many great teams have players who have come through the youth system or have been at the club for a long time as their captains. I'm thinking of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, John Terry at Chelsea, Raul at Real Madrid, as well as Puyol at Barcelona and Gary Neville at Man United.

History shows that it is incredibly tough for a defender to be named Footballer of the Year because over the course of a year there is normally always a forward who steals the headlines up front.

Cruyff's idea was, quite literally, to play football - nothing more, nothing less. His idea of how football should be played was based not on controlling the opponent, but on the ball and the game.

We make adjustments and changes before and sometimes also during the games in order adapt to the opposition. The manager will, for example, tell the striker to make different runs or position the central midfielders slightly differently in relation to each other.

It's not enough to buy good players, one has to develop a team.

In football, surprises are always possible.

Our sport needs lethal strikers, goalscorers, heroes. But football is much more than the moment of triumph.

The most important thing is that we play as a team. It means to attack together but to defend together as well.

Football is teamwork, unity, defence, assists, sacrifice.

Clubs like Manchester United or Barcelona have a system, and then you hire personnel who fit this system.

If you do the job out there on the pitch and you have it under control, as in my case, you want more. You want more responsibility. You want to take care of it all. That is the case with me.

Except for two years in Stuttgart, I have always worn the FCB jersey.

I experienced how Pep Guardiola worked every day. He had football on his mind round the clock: 'What system does the opponent like to play? How do I want to set up my team, who do I want in which position?'

AC Milan would never have been the same club without Paolo Maldini or Franco Baresi and they certainly would have never had the same amount of success.

I joined Bayern at the age of 11, and from then on it was all about being up to the competition. It doesn't matter who you face, you are always the favorite. You learn this at a young age. And this continues throughout your career at Bayern Munich, you are always the favorite or one of the favorites in every competition you are involved in.

Every single player has to take responsibility for what they do. Look at the Manchester United team that won the Champions League in 2008, they didn't have a 'leader' like Roy Keane any more.

I think that it is advantageous to join Bayern Munich at a young age.

Any business or club has to have a hierarchy. Everybody needs to know and understand his role in the overall structure. Bayern Munich is no different.

To grow up and play for FC Bayern Munich and eventually Germany has been truly a dream come true.

I last played in Dubai in the summer of 2009 and it was still over 40 degrees in the evening. It was extremely exhausting and absolute madness.

If you want to measure yourself with Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United, you, as Bayern Munich, need a philosophy. That must be the aim of the club.

Looking back at my matches since 2002, there is one main criterion for me which marks a club which is successful in the long-term: big players, who have grown with their clubs, whose names are tied to the success and who have a 100 per cent identification with the team, the club and its history.

To achieve success in this game you need specific talents and attributes. But we also have to adapt to the fact that we work in the public eye, with all its pros and cons.

For me it's more difficult to play against the quicker wingers, but for the team it's perhaps more difficult to face players that are good passers, because one through ball can take the whole team out of the game.

In the past, we won tournaments with lots of fighting and lots of hard running.

Klinsmann was the shining hero of the 2006 World Cup when Bayern took him on.

We practically only practiced fitness under Klinsmann, there was very little technical instruction and the players themselves discussed the way they would play a game before the match.

Felix Magath works with pressure. At first, we didn't know where we stood with him. That prompted the players to give their best because they wanted to play, but after a while the players knew where they stood and Magath no longer received the same effect.

We have always found it easier, and still do, when the opponent plays football as well, when they don't just think in defensive terms, don't just sit inside their penalty box. It's just nicer when the opponent plays football.

It's obvious that I'd like to keep the captain's armband. The job gives me a great deal of enjoyment. Why should I then give it up by choice?

I have no problems with homosexuals whatsoever.

An openly gay footballer would be exposed to abusive comments.

As a young footballer I used to look up to a number of stars for inspiration and I understand what Bhaichung must have done for all young Indians aspiring to be footballer.

I've practically grown up with FC Bayern Munich since the age of 11. In my case, a talent scout noticed me when I was playing for a local youth team at Gern in Munich.

Those who have achieved success in football have a degree of responsibility to be open and honest about our 'calling,' our passion.

I consider it a privilege and duty to pass on the experience and knowledge I have accumulated in 20 years of experience at club and national team level with Bayern and Germany.

I have climbed every step of the football ladder, from kicking a ball about in Munich's Olympic Park to becoming a junior at Bayern, signing professional terms, establishing myself in the first team and taking the captain's armband.

Of course, the moment when the ball hits the net, that's fascinating for kids playing the game and motivates them to join a club.

I believe that when Fifa hands out an award, it should not be a marketing prize that solely honours the protagonists of a media-crazy sport.

When I played for Stuttgart, I met Manchester United and Chelsea. With United, I immediately think of the duels with Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes and with Chelsea, it was John Terry. Those players are symbols of their clubs and the success they had at that time.

Big teams need a core of players who have their roots at their clubs, who grow with their clubs and who embody the culture. Representing it on the pitch and outside as well.

At Euro 2004 - my first as a player - Greece won the title. A team nobody thought could win it.

In every part of our society, rules have to be questioned and adapted.

We should not discuss refereeing performances but support decisions to help their work.

The abolition of the double sanction for a foul in the box is a welcome change. There are times that you cannot help but stop your opponent in the box, with your momentum forcing you to make a challenge. Fouls can't be avoided in that situation but your intention was fair.

You can never know if there will be a second Cruyff, someone with a great personality who can grow up and make it into the squad of the club they love. But what is certain is that, in the Champions League, there will be big clubs producing these players forever.

It's our responsibility as experienced and successful players to manage our powers in order to be able to give 100 per cent in the right moments.

I played at full-back for 10 years, I enjoyed it, and I had success there, so I can never regret being a defender.