90 Quotes by Eric Cantona
Eric Cantona, a retired French footballer, is renowned for his skillful play on the field and his enigmatic personality off it. Beyond his achievements as a professional soccer player, Cantona's impact goes beyond the sport. His influence on English football, particularly during his time at Manchester United, is often described as transformative, helping to usher in a period of success for the club.
Cantona's charismatic leadership and playing style made him a beloved figure among fans. After retiring from football, he transitioned into acting, taking on roles in films and television. His magnetic presence and unconventional aura have contributed to his popularity both in and outside the sports world, solidifying his status as a cultural icon.
Eric Cantona Quotes
You can change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favourite football team.
When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.
When I think football, I think Manchester United. I still support United and always will. I will die with them in my heart.
You may find another Beckham or Ronaldo, but never ever will you find another Sir Alex Ferguson.
I don't play against a particular team. I play against the idea of losing
My best moment? I have a lot of good moments but the one I prefer is when I kicked the hooligan.
I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose.
Sometimes you surprise the goalkeeper and sometimes the goalkeeper surprises you. In my career, I tried to do more of the first than the second.
The ball is like a woman, she loves to be caressed.
I play with passion and fire. I have to accept that sometimes this fire does harm.
Certainly take the advice of others but always, always be yourself.
You need a particular talent only to want to please. I don't have this talent.
After his first training session in heaven, George Best, from his favourite right wing, turned the head of God who was filling in at left-back. I would love him to save me a place in his team, George Best that is, not God.
It is enjoyable to make things visible which are invisible.
When people are talking about you, it means that you exist.
A good goal is one that is important and beautiful.
Whatever happens, there are always things you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have scored a third. That's perfectionism. That's what makes you progress in life.
My ancestors were fighters, something I have inherited.
I see the world become so uniform. Everybody has to be the same. I like people who are different.
Those who hate or disrespect Sir Alex Ferguson , its only because he snatched away their dreams of winning.
The real fans of football come from the working class. Now they cannot afford to come and watch the game.
Ferguson, as a manager, and Ken, as a director, are very similar. One's a great manager, the other a great director, but both have a lot of humanity and a lot of humility. They always give you the energy... with Ferguson when we played a game it was like it was his first game - he's so passionate and gives you ambition every time. And Ken works the same way - they're very similar.
I apologize for nothing.
Manchester United is stronger than anybody in the world.
When you are a rich man you are proud to own a Rolls Royce and when you are a poor man you are proud to own a Renault.
I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery.
I try to find different ways of expressing myself. Without that I will die.
Often there are players who have only football as a way of expressing themselves and never develop other interests. And when they no longer play football, they no longer do anything; they no longer exist, or rather they have the sensation of no longer existing.
We can be eaten by techniques and forget what we have inside of us.
He who has regrets cannot look at himself in the mirror.
The pressure people put on themselves and the rivalry between the teams is much more marked. And I think that's a good thing. As long as that rivalry remains within the spirit of competition, it con only spur everyone on.
I don't care about the past.
When times are difficult, I tell myself, 'I'm just passing through.'
Children go where they find sincerity and authenticity.
Every experience makes you a man.
Being French, to me, is first and foremost being a revolutionary.
I prefer to play and lose rather than win, because I know in advance I'm going to win.
For me, I don't like it when there is too much interference in our lives. We're not children. It is our own life in our hands.
I always wanted to play against the best.
I always planned to retire when I was at the top and at Manchester United I have reached the pinnacle of my career.
We all seem to be about aggression and greed. It's a massive pressure that affects us all.
I don't play against any team in particular. I play to fight against defeat.
If someone is too perfect they won't look good. Imperfection is important.
Socrates worked towards making people question themselves. He like to provoke self-interrogation but wasn't particularly interested in the answers that emerged; he just like to set off the thought process.
I'm just enjoying my life at the moment.
Without spontaneity in any sport, you cannot succeed.
We knew that you don't get to be world champions without a struggle.
If you have only one passion in life - football - and you pursue it to the exclusion of everything else, it becomes very dangerous. When you stop doing this activity it is as though you are dying. The death of that activity is a death in itself.
Actually, I wanted to act even when I was still playing football.
I don't think the world of football is so serious. It's important to have distance about things and about yourself. If we believe we are kings or gods, we become crazy. We all know it's a game and we all enjoy it together.
I'm proud of what I achieved there, but a life built on memories is not much of a life.
We all have common frailties but we need to treasure friends more.
It is unacceptable that people often have to make huge sacrifices just to find a place to live, a roof over their heads.
I manage a team, for beach soccer. I'm the coach. Player, coach.
In football you have an adversary; in cinema that adversary is yourself.
A home is crucial, the foundation of a stable family.
Messi, he's exceptional. When you watch him, you feel there's a child inside him and he is making some childhood dream come true. He's a Great Player, not only for today but also tomorrow.
I think life is a big game we play.
You can lose in cinema too if you don't put on a good performance.
We won the European Championship last September and now the world title. That is some year for French beach soccer! Now comes the hard part. We have to keep improving and that's difficult because it's tough to do better than winning a world title.
I started beach football in Monte Carlo when I retired from football in 1997. I liked the game very much.
I didn't study; I live.
You can feel very quickly as a prisoner of your past, of the memories.
Every man who has an idol or admires someone can recognise its themes. It's not only a film about the relationship between fans and idols, it's also a love story, a story of a man who is depressed, who has problems in his relationship with his teenage step-children.
I observe the world and the people surrounding me.
I found leaving Manchester United very, very hard.
Sometimes in life one experiences an emotion which is so strong that it is difficult to think, or to reason.
I like to be fascinated by the people I photograph. Sometimes I don't admire them but I'm interested in them.
I have to wear clothes but I don't like to give an idea of what I am with clothes.
Sometimes you get submerged by emotion. I think it's very important to express it - which doesn't necessarily mean hitting someone.
I don't want to be in Terminator. I don't want to go to Hollywood.
Domenech is the worst coach France have had since Louis XVI.
You are constantly battling against your own weaknesses to make a good performance.
I'm lucky to have the privilege of being able to choose what I want to do.
Some people need to stay at the top. They are afraid to re-start from zero because they fear the critics.
Become a legend? But I am already.
I live to feel myself in danger.
I like to stay at home and make cinema in my head.
Football lost its excitement for me.
When you arrive in England for football it's a paradise.
Even as a footballer, I was always being creative.
Anyone who is different or is slightly out of the norm, is considered crazy.
I would love him to save me a place in his team, George Best that is, not God.
What is the system? It revolves around the banks, the system is built on the power of the banks, so it can be destroyed through the banks.
In England, your life is your life.
I don't think we can be entirely happy seeing such misery around us.
I didn't want really to be involved in a normal soccer club.
The French have only negative things to say about everything and everyone.
I think I have a sense of mischief and that I can laugh at myself.
I don't know where my medals are.
My father's parents were from Sardinia and my mother's from Barcelona.
Great businessmen are creators.
Being on stage isn't so tough compared to the football pitch.
On sand, you can never be sure of anything. An ordinary shot can take a wicked deflection at the last moment.
I don't need to be involved with a game watched by millions of people to be fulfilled.
The revolution is really easy to do nowadays.
I know that I have a face, a look, people aren't used to seeing. A presence.
An artist is someone with the gift to light up a dark room.
I was always being creative. I could never have played a defensive role because I would have been forced to destroy the other player's creativity.
Some films I say no to and they end up working very well, but I don't care, I just want to do something exciting.
I think it's better to be involved in one or two movies a year.
I don't take life so seriously I can just play with life.
There were moments - I would be daydreaming - I would imagine scenes, even if there wasn't a camera around. In my head, I was acting.
I would like to compare football and cinema. I think it's very similar. It's two games... different games. You have to work very hard and find the confidence to enjoy it on the pitch or in the film.
― Eric Cantona Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
