Related Quotes
"I'm quite close to Xabi. We became good friends in the national side. I was asking him loads of things about the place and he was telling me everything about it and it was all really positive. It made me really keen to come here - I was dying to come here in fact - and it's all true what he said about the place."
Reina arrives at Liverpool in July 2005
Reina was called up for the first time to the Spanish squad in May 2005:
"I played with and coached his father Miguel [at Club Atlético de Madrid] and Pepe is like a younger version".
Spanish national team coach Luis Aragonés
"What can you say about a goalkeeper, who in his first season had more clean sheets than Clemence. He is a goalkeeper with a big future. He's quick, has a very good mentality. A very good goalkeeper."
Rafa on Pepe Reina after the custodian's debut season
"If you've got a good goalkeeper behind you, you can play with more confidence. If you have someone shouting things, you can be more confident. He shouts the right things. With his feet he is brilliant. His passes are amazing. You feel comfortable when you play with him."
Daniel Agger praises Jose Reina in December 2006
"Something that will always stay with me is the special reception I got when I made my way to the Kop goal. Everyone was clapping. I thought it must be for some of the Liverpool players, so I turned round but there was nobody there. When I realised it was for me I started applauding the crowd. I returned their respect and the Kop cheered loudly. It was magnificent. I have never seen anything like that anywhere else. I was an opposition player – I didn't imagine I'd be on the other side in a couple of years. When Rafa asked me if I wanted to come to Liverpool, that was something I immediately thought of. I was very proud to move here because we have some of the best fans in the world."
Jose Reina was in the Barca goal in the semi-finals of the 2000-2001 UEFA Cup at Anfield
"I said when he arrived that he was the best 'keeper in Spain and now I think you can say he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
But not just as a goalkeeper – his mentality is really good, he has a very good character, he is really positive, he has determination, he wants to improve and he wants to learn. All in all, he is a fantastic team-mate and a very good player. We knew how good he was in Spain with penalties and in this country people found out how good he is at the FA Cup final."
Rafa on Jose Reina in May 2007
"I found out when he was six playing football at home. He wanted to be a forward but I told him it wasn't very good being an attacking player because people would be kicking him throughout the game. I told him he had an extraordinary talent to be a keeper. I started training him from that moment. When he was a kid I taught him more than just how to stop penalties. I taught him how to position his hands to stop the ball, how to fall and how to save with different parts of the body."
An accomplished goalkeeper himself, Miguel Reina, trained his son; Jose, to be a top keeper
I had a little challenge going with Petr Cech last season where we’d see who could concede the least goals. Despite our club rivalries we're both in the goalkeepers’ union. We’d sent text messages to each other about the clean sheets as well.
Jose Reina won three years in a row the Golden Gloves award for keeping the most clean sheets in the Premier League