I know that nobody will be satisfied with anything less than coming home with the World Cup.

It's special - when you start playing, you are aware of names like Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie; you have seen them playing and know what great players they are. So it's fantastic to have a chance to line up with them. I'm really pleased with how that understanding has started off.

Losing one final, that happens, but when it happens three times in a row, that is something else entirely.

I have a lot of very happy memories of the Olympic Games, and the final against Nigeria and the goal mean an awful lot to me.

Top-level football gives you fame and money, but it takes away a lot, too.

Thank God I have parents who'd support the crazy things I did. If my dad found a snake, I'd take it to the woods. I was always taking these homeless birds and homeless cats home.

I had my boy in Boston on Easter Sunday. That kills me, from a sports perspective. He's a Boston baby and I'm a New York guy.

Win or lose, I always like to get back to my friends and family. They keep me grounded. When I'm home with my friends, I'm always the same Gabriel. I'm no better or worse in their eyes because of my results. It's good to be with your true friends. It always reminds me of where I'm from and who I am.