Some of us have a natural fire in our bellies. We want to wake up, jump out of bed, and get. stuff. done.

For the rest of us, well, sometimes we need an extra spark of motivation.

Since we at beIN SPORTS love soccer more than anything, motivational soccer quotes are what truly speak to our inner go-getters.

If you’re needing a little extra motivation to get productive and work to achieve your dreams today, some wise soccer players have the words to make you move.

So whether you’re an aspiring superstar athlete in need of some inspirational speech or just a regular gal or guy like me, I hope the quotes below will get you ready to score some big goals.

Soccer Motivational Quotes to Help You Rock Your Day

“Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal.” – Johan Cruyff

When it comes to sports, especially soccer, money matters. 

More money means increased purchasing power. That means a team with more money can afford more
soccer talent.

And isn’t winning all about having talent?

If so, then poorer teams attempting to beat richer teams would seem to be engaging in a futile exercise.

Are they?

Research does seem to suggest that in professional sports higher payroll leads to higher success.

But that doesn’t make losing inevitable if you are aren’t swimming in a pool filled with gold coins.

If money always determined the outcome of the tournament, you wouldn’t need to play the games.

And Johan Cruyff is right. It takes a lot more than money to play top level soccer. You have to have
passion, grit, determination, talent, drive, and hunger.

Do those things more than anyone else, and you’ll like your chances of winning.

Even if you aren’t Mr. Moneybags.

“Today there are opportunities that no one knows if they will come around again in the future.”- Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo says the opportunities we can seize today may be gone in a flash.

You never know what the future brings.

According to traditional Buddhist philosophy, reality is comprised of nothing but this moment right now.

There is no other moment.

So today, right now, is when your opportunity to strike exists. Today is the day you have to take your
shot.

What if Cristiano Ronaldo had waited? What if he decided that trying to become a professional
footballer was too risky?

Where would he be today?

Thankfully, Ronaldo couldn’t think that way. He had to become a footballer, and that meant doing the
work right now.

After all, opportunities aren’t magic. Opportunities arrive because you create the circumstances in which
they can arise.

Every day, Ronaldo did something to prepare for his future as a soccer player.  He trained. He practiced
hard. He never stopped and he never gave up.

When it was time to go out and grab a spot in the professional leagues, you know what?

He was ready. 

Are you?

“It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success” – Leo Messi

Success is rarely achieved overnight. You have to put in the work. The blood, sweat, and tears.

Psychologist Angela Duckworth has famously argued that a major determining factor in our success is
our level of grit.

Grit is a combination of persistence and passion.

Leo Messi has more grit than anyone. He overcame incredible odds, including his growth hormone
deficiency, to become one of the best to ever play the game of soccer.

Business Insider wrote an astonishing piece on how long it truly takes someone to become an “overnight success.”

Bill Gates needed 11 years before he made $350 million overnight, Steve Jobs needed 2 decades to become an overnight billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg took 7 years to go from inventing “Facemash” because he was dumped by his girlfriend to becoming an overnight success with Facebook.

There are countless more stories like these.

Want to be an “overnight success?” You won’t be, because that’s not a real thing.

As Leo Messi says, it will take you years. It will take you passion. It will take you perseverance.

Do the work. It’s worth it.

“I Only Want to Be the Best That I Can Be” – Neymar.

Notice what Neymar doesn’t say here.

He doesn’t say he wants to be better than Ronaldo.

He doesn’t say he wants to be better than Messi.

He doesn’t say he wants to be the best soccer player in the world.

He says he wants to be the best soccer player that he can be.

We never know how great we can be until we try. And we can always make efforts to improve ourselves when we compete.

But looking to be better than someone else – or everyone else – is the wrong approach.

Best-selling author and CEO David Villa (no, not that David Villa!) has similarly argued in Forbes Magazine and elsewhere that the only person you should be competing against is yourself.

Of course, you should want to be the best. And maybe for you that is going to be being the best in the world.

But that’s not the point.

Listen to Neymar and be the best you that you can possibly be.

Go out now and make it happen.

“There is only one ball, so you need to have it.” – Johan Cruyff

There is, of course, only one ball in a soccer match.

This is a metaphysical truth. There will never be more than one ball.

And everyone on the field wants it.

Soccer is partially about possession. You need to own the ball. Keep the ball. Dominate the ball.

The statistical research concerning ball possession and risky is controversial. Having the ball longer does not necessarily mean that you are going to win the game.

But it’s all about creating opportunities for yourself. To shoot. To Score. To win.

That’s the wisdom behind Cruyff’s inspirational quote.

No matter what you do, whether you are a food server or a truck driver or an accountant, you will inevitably have the opportunity to seize the ball today.

Will you do it? And what will you do with it when you have it?

These are the questions you must answer for yourself.

“The only thing that matters is playing.”- Leo Messi

Sometimes you succeed. Sometimes you fail.

But you have two choices in life. You can sit on the sidelines and watch your hopes, dreams, and whole life pass you by.

Or you can get in the game and play your hardest. Like your whole life depends on it.

Because it does.

It doesn’t matter if you fail. Everyone fails sometimes. Messi doesn’t make every goal he shoots. Barcelona doesn’t win every time he plays in a game.

If you don’t play, you won’t have the failures, but you won’t have any of the successes either.

There’s another famous sports quote from hockey legend Wayne Gretzsky.

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Same thing in soccer.

Same thing in life.

So there’s only one question remaining.

Are you ready to take your shot?

Brian M. Reiser

I hope you found these motivational soccer quotes to be inspirational, compelling, and having you ready to go out and achieve your dreams. Speaking of achieving your dreams, I recently wrote another piece on the highest paid soccer players in the game and those guys have certainly achieved many of theirs. I would love it if you’d check it out.