“I learned a lot from my three coaches at Juventus. Man-marking from Ma...” — Matthijs de Ligt Quote

I learned a lot from my three coaches at Juventus. Man-marking from Maurizio Sarri, playing out from the back from Andrea Pirlo, and 'pure defending' from Massimiliano Allegri.

I moved close to Amsterdam, so it's normal to be a fan of Ajax. Me and my friends would watch the games and of course they would win.

It's important to know how much I'll play and how much the club trusts me, that's why I picked Juventus because they told me they really wanted me.

What I am saying is that mental ability is really important for defenders.

I have learned during my football career that the start of a tournament or season is fun, but that it is mainly about the end.

You decide whether you want to box on, or not. And for me of course, I wasn't going to be leaving the business until becoming a world champion, and defending it numerous times.

Many people talk about winning two straight gold medals, but I'm not focusing on defending the title.

Modern football is like handball. You see 11 players defending on the edge of their own area.

Originally, I thought the story of the Alamo was all these men defending their liberty when they could have left, knowing they were going to die. That's without a doubt what appealed to me, the romance and the nobility. But, as in life, the more you dig the more you find out that things weren't quite like that.