They teach you some things, but football is instinct sometimes. You just get the ball, and sometimes you dribble past three players and pass it; other times, you can shoot from far away. It's just instinct. If you feel something, just do it. I am free to do that.

The most important thing is to be a midfielder first, not scoring goals. You have to make the game, make an assist for the team, and if you can score, it's a plus for the team.

Playing against an Italian team is harder than all the other leagues. The Italians won't score lots of goals, but they won't concede many, either.

If you want to speak about scoring goals, you should judge every midfielder the same way.

Even if some days I feel like I'm ready to fall apart, I am ultimately happier than I've ever been. My family gives me more joy than I thought possible, and my career fulfills me tremendously. All in all, I feel like am in the exact place I am supposed to be in, doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.

Being sporty at heart, I've wanted to learn football since I was a child. But I never got the chance because, growing up, my family didn't have the finances for extra-curricular activities.

My parents suffered from that ideal of a perfect nuclear family. They found that a difficult pressure, I think.

My father was Catholic, and my mother wanted me to go to Catholic school. That's what I did in first grade. But she couldn't afford the payments. I think it must have hurt her a lot, not to be able to give me a Catholic education.