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I do go back to Brazil once a year. I miss my family.

So when I was very young, I longed for Brazil.

My mother is a proud Brazilian. I love visiting my family in Rio; the city and its people are so vibrant and amazing.

It was very hard for me as a kid to get through as a footballer in Uruguay.

Soon after I was born, my parents moved to the South Florida area, and I've lived here ever since (with a few years of living in both Portugal and Brazil in my younger days).

I didn't do very well when I was at school, so my dad gave me the opportunity to travel in Africa. I drove from London to Nairobi. It was incredible.

Brazil was a very good experience. I learned a lot about how to play football, both technical and physical. There would be a hundred kids of all ages, training and doing classes together.

My parents got divorced when I was around a year old. My dad was essentially a nonentity in my life until I got to be about 16 or so. My mom was a flight attendant for PanAm, so I moved all over the world. London, Rio de Janeiro.

I realized I was the one doing all the training, earning the money, and my parents were living off of me.

My connection with Brazil is so abstract. My blood and my way of thinking is Brazilian, but that's it. I don't tend to go back to the past, and although I have an apartment there, I rarely visit. When I move, I really move.