Football's about the young players, bringing youth team players through to the first team and hopefully getting the best out of them so they can go on to play for their country.

Growing up, watching the Premier League as far back as I can remember, feeling the trophy and having the medal around my neck was an unbelievable feeling.

There are many ways to grow football-wise. You go slow or are pushed to go faster, otherwise you get left behind. For me, there would be trouble in stopping learning.

Football is made up of all kinds of conflict. In a dressing room, between players, between us and the manager, between us and loads of people who don't seem to matter. It's constant and harsh sometimes.

I've learned so much whether it was, I played a lot of team sports, so being part of a team, learning how to be a leader on different teams, and how to deal with the ebb and flow of different games.

I was in a weight-cutting sport, in judo, so I had to be a certain weight on a deadline. It kind of pushed me into having a really unhealthy relationship with food in my teens. I felt like if I wasn't exactly on weight, I wasn't good-looking.

When I was nine years old, my father went to Spain to work for three years, and I was in Portugal. He has a sports store. I only saw him once a month, which was difficult. I was alone with my mother and my sister, who is younger than me.

My life as a professional athlete has allowed me the opportunity to visit and live in many different places and meet many interesting and diverse people.