Definitely the life and the camaraderie with the other players is something I appreciate a lot more now. I was very shy when I was younger and didn't always enjoy the lifestyle.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I belonged to another club, and liked the camaraderie.
What drew me towards team sport were the camaraderie and friendship. The chance to celebrate victory and success with a group of other people is something I have enjoyed doing.
After 20 years in the game, I was fortunate to get away from the game and enjoy my family, which was great for me.
I've got to be honest and say that, growing up, I wasn't a big sports guy, but I love the camaraderie. I just love people getting together, fighting for a team and getting super-emotional about it.
My entire life has been an attempt to get back to the kind of feelings you have on a field. The sense of brotherhood, the esprit de corps, the focus - there being no past or future, just the ball. As trite as it sounds, I was happiest playing ball.
If I miss anything about the sport, it's the camaraderie of old teammates.
I think one of the greatest joys I have now in my career and in my profession is to be playing at an age where I can appreciate it more than I used to... It's a whole different lens you look through the older you get.
By the time I was 10 years old, my entire life was football. Training, reading, watching, even playing football on PlayStation. I was totally focused on it. I especially loved the creative players - the maestros.
I'm glad to have grown up in the countryside and played, and had to use my imagination rather than a TV and had to learn to act the hard way, to have dealt with the rejection. It's a life as well as a job, at the end the day, we all have to work for a living, but we have to have a life as well.
For me, it's about camaraderie. My whole life is like, if something's going on, nothing ever preceded fun. I always put my friends and the fun and the business ahead of everything.