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People just assume, over the years, that soccer players are not too intelligent. As with most assumptions, they're wrong.

Even though professional soccer has become more about business and less about the game itself, I still believe football is a party for the legs that play it and for the eyes that watch it.

No one needs to be reminded of racism in soccer: the xenophobia, the nativism and, yes, nationalism.

The negative side of football. The negative side of our society. People sometimes go to football and bring to it the negative aspects of our society.

Behind every kick of the ball there has to be a thought.

I think where we're still a little bit behind some other countries is just our pure soccer knowledge and our savvy on the field. That takes time and generations that have watched soccer growing up, played the game growing up.

I gave up on the delusion that these players enjoy soccer as much as I do, that they play for the love of the game.

The social issues outside of football are not as defined as they were earlier, when integration took place and certain rights were legislated. The Civil Rights movement is over. Individuals can buy homes wherever they want, travel first class wherever they want, eat wherever they want.

People don't understand that the feel of the surface is so important for a footballer. The ball travels on the surface; our feet move on the surface - all of that goes into how the game is actually played.