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In this case, I realize that, unlike when I was 22 years old, I realize now that football will not go on forever, it is a small part of your life.

Football is one of those games that definitely relates to life in a lot of ways. Everything can be going good, and just like that, you have a turnover. Things are going south, you're going the opposite direction. How are you going to recover from it? That's the beauty in this game.

But when you lose a family member or something tragic happens, that stays with you forever. You never get over it. Knowing that you have to deal with that for the rest of your life... Football is important, but not as important as you once thought it was.

Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist but football is only two things - blocking and tackling.

Often there are players who have only football as a way of expressing themselves and never develop other interests. And when they no longer play football, they no longer do anything; they no longer exist, or rather they have the sensation of no longer existing.

You don't have time to dwell on what is going on in the games.

When you're playing football, and your enemies are there, you don't have a lot of time to think to yourself. You've got stuff to handle. You've got places to be, meetings to go to, bigger fish to fry. You really don't attack the emotional side of your life.

One of the things you learn in football is that you're only as good as your last outing. I don't like to reflect on what we've done in the past. I'm not a very good storyteller, for one thing. I'd disappoint you. When it's time, I'll talk about the good old days. But it's a sign of old age, reveling in the past.

What happens is once you start to understand football, you realise that it's not just about the physical side of the game and chasing after a ball. It's a strategic sport which requires a lot of intelligence. It's a very mental game.

Football is like life and I know life.