My dad was a midfielder, like I am, and he was good, too. When I saw him playing as I got older, I could see he really knew how to play. He didn't have all the chances to grow and have a great career that I got, but he did what he could.

It was my dad who got me into football. One day, he surprised me playing in the garage. He thought I was a thief. I always played football when I was a kid.

When I arrived at Roma, someone defined me as Giotto, 'The Painter,' but the nickname I prefer is the one I got from Captain Francesco Totti, 'The Little Prince.'

In 2008, I moved to Lyon, one of France's top clubs. I had some very strong team mates, and I proved to be at their level. I began training very hard and always respecting my coach's advice.

I'll take photographs with kids. People who want to take photographs with me. People who like the movies. People who supported me. I'll do that all day, all night, that's fine. But the bombardment of the paparazzi is just... I truly don't understand. It just feels like this kind of gluttonous, horrific sport. It's like sport.

Defensive players kind of have that two-faced kind of way of being able to be very aggressive on the football field and going out there and getting there job done. At the same time, from my own incidents and my own personality, I'm much a person that's very likable and lovable.

When you do something as long as I have, you obviously love the sport - although not everything about the sport.

Nobody gives a crap about hockey down here - nobody. I coach kids' hockey down here and you can start to see the disinterest in the game here with the kids.