“Without aggression in you, you don’t have a winner.” 10 thoughts from Fyodor Smolov

Fyodor Smolov is undoubtedly conquering this World Cup not only with his attractiveness, but also with his gorgeous play on the field. In our material we have collected for you the most motivating thoughts of the footballer, which make him move forward every day and give his best in all matches.

It is important to believe yourself, not other people’s opinion. When you don’t ask, you can do anything.

I can’t remember the last time I went to a game and didn’t have any pain. When you’re a professional athlete, you’re always in some kind of physical pain.

In my 20s, I thought this way: after practiceI’ d go out and have fun, and I’d sleep in on the weekend after the game. It happened once, twice, three times. Fatigue would build up, I’d go out to the game and think: why am I not running? The bottom line is, you can’t stay awake, go for a walk, eat everything, and live healthy. At least, that’s certainly not true of me.

I tried to never lie to my dad, and he tried not to punish me. It’s still going on.

Fabio Capello told me one important thing: “Work hard and never feel sorry for yourself.” I remember these words when my hands are down.

Without aggression you don’t have the character of a winner, but aggression can be nurtured.

Tattoos are self-expression, they’rea protest. And from the point of view of psychology it is a subconscious desire to punish yourself for something, because tattooing is inflicting pain on yourself. But I’m in favor of people expressing themselves.

Parental love is absolute: there is nothing higher and purer than this love, that’s why it’s so important to find a compromise and not to destroy the relationship with your parents.

If you are able to distract and abstract yourself from everything that is going on, to concentrate completely, to give yourself to the training, it is much better than to start thinking, getting upset and worrying about everything.

I never use hair gel.

Quotes borrowed from Fyodor Smolov’s official Instagram account, an interview for the Vecherniy Urgant program, an interview for Esquire magazine (June 2017) and for Men’s Health magazine (June 2018). The authors’ vocabulary and punctuation have been retained.