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The best goal I have scored for the national team would be during the 2002 World Cup against Portugal. It was my first World Cup and my first goal in the World Cup. It was like a dream, and that's why it was so memorable.
When you're a child, you watch Brazil on TV and feel that desire to be a national team player, so when you get here, you make a dream come true, and it's a huge honour to me and to every player who wears the Brazil shirt.
Regions' role in detecting and developing a raw talent is no secret, as they work so hard to produce top class players who go on to represent departments, then national team, and also play in different leagues of the world.
On some occasions, it is every footballer's dream to play for the national team, but if you don't reach it, you always need to work harder to reach a higher level, a level you wouldn't reach if you didn't have this as a goal.
You don't get called up to the national team because you tell good jokes, you are funny, you are handsome or because you are Messi's friend. You are called up because you have a role at your given club and you have personality.
When I played for Hannover I had several offers, also - as I have been told - from Hamburg, Bremen and Bayern. Back then I already was a German international and Bayern would have loved to have the complete German national team.
I went to Fulham for the project they explained to me - but it didn't really work out. I might have been playing at a high level for the national team, but I was starting to miss those European nights and challenging for titles.
To train a national team, you have to know what team you have at your disposal and what this team is capable of. You need to get the best out of them and take them as far as possible. Yet, sometimes, you can't achieve your goals.
When you're with your club team, every week you have a performance to judge. But when you're with the national team, it's a little different because you might not play for three or four months at a time. Things change constantly.
Despite the situation in Cuba, I had a chance to play on the national team; and compared to other baseball players and other people in Cuba, I had the opportunity to live at a level that was not very high class but in the middle.
I don't think anyone would say that the women on the United States national team are not great role models and ambassadors. Everywhere we go, we connect with fans, sign autographs, and represent our sport and federation with class.
I just want to say that aside from Atlanta United, any national team gives you a little bit more free time. I don't want to get completely into the analysis. There are different responsibilities compared to clubs and national team.
I actually spoke to all the national team players who play in the Premier League, asking about what the league is like and the style of play. It's one thing watching it on the TV, but being involved in it every day is another thing.
I feel really good at Everton. My team-mates are helping me with my confidence on the field, and that is vital. And being part of the Brazil national team has been really important for my morale and a positive thing for my confidence.
I'm not saying I didn't have ample time to recover, ample time to get to my best, I felt this year I did fine. When I stepped on the field for the national team, I was ready and able to make an impact, to score goals, to create chances.
My parents didn't know anything about collegiate scholarships, so they had accepted the national team training stipend, the monthly stipend that I received after making the national team, so I was ineligible for NCAA eligibility anyway.
When I could choose which national team to play for, I could choose between Luxembourg, France, and Bosnia, and I chose Bosnia because I felt it was important to demonstrate, especially to the young people, that a dream can become true.
Thomas Muller deserves enormous respect. He's hardly ever injured and has always been with the national team, where other players might have said they are tired, need a break or were injured. He has busted his butt for the national team.
With the national team, we have these fans, people love of us, people come up to us in our cities, and they're like, 'We love you - what are you doing in Seattle?' And I'm like, 'I live here, and I've played here for the last five years.'
I'm lucky to play with Messi for the national team; I've learned many things. I can pick up a lot from him in terms of how he reads the play, how he thinks, how he sees the movement of his teammates. This will help me a lot for the future.
I don't think Curcic is up to the task. I'd like to be more positive, but a coach who has not been in charge of a top team aiming for titles does not have the potential, the authority, or the knowledge to lead a national team to victories.
My life has changed in many ways, both on an economic and personal level. All major league players are accorded the respect they deserve. In Cuba, it was not that way. National team players were not respected. The treatment was not adequate.
Everyone knows Iker Casillas. We have all followed him being at the top level for so many years. What he has done for the national team is something impossible to equal. But I try and learn from him when we are there,and train the best I can.
If my soccer career were over, I would still come here because of the people. And despite the fact I've had to skip some school for National Team purposes, I am looking forward to holding that Carolina degree as soon as I can get my hands on it.
It has been tough when I have been with the national team and we have gone to play in some of the poorer areas in Brazil. You see people come and watch us train or play a match, and then you know some of them are going home with no food on the plate.
From the start, the promise of Jurgen Klinsmann as manager of the U.S. men's national team was revolution: gritty, plodding American soccer would give way to attacking flair; the parade of journeymen would end; an era of skilled stylists would begin.
The national team is part of my life. I have an incredible history, of many conquests and also many defeats. But to play for Brazil, I have to have a club and play well. I'm not going to be picked on my past or because of my sponsor, as many have said.
When I started with the national team, it was made very clear I was going to be the backup to Christie Rampone and Rachel Buehler. So for the first few years, it was just me training my heart out and pushing those centerbacks to be the best they could be.
I had a great career, to go from a small town in Switzerland to play for the Italian national team was a dream come true. So was playing for Lazio and Chelsea, winning trophies. When I look back I am very grateful for what I had, rather than what I missed.
Being named as a finalist for the USA Basketball National Team is an unbelievable feeling and an opportunity that is truly humbling. It is an honor to be included with such talented players and I look forward to the chance to represent my country this summer.
I am a believer in passing the ball on the ground, I was lucky to be part of teams like that at Arsenal, with the French national team and with Monaco and at Barcelona. I know you can win in other ways, but I believe that is the way football should be played.
I made good friends at all the teams I played for, but with the national team, we created a family. It was during years when we won many trophies, and we have a special relationship because of that. Together - Pepe, Torres, me, and others - we have something.
The women's national team is a very successful team, and that success has given us a platform to speak on gender equity issues. Millions of young women play soccer in this country, and it's empowering for them to see that our contribution to the game is valued.
It's not easy, especially for a German national team player who did great things in the past and maybe is struggling. That's why I think most of the German national team play abroad because if you don't play for Bayern Munich and you don't always win, it's difficult.
I've played many matches against English clubs and the national team - and I always notice a difference in those games. When you play against the inventors of football, it adds more importance to the result, and you can see that demonstrated by the levels on the pitch.
My first memory of the national team is the 1982 World Cup. I remember those days at our home or at my uncle's house, with all the family and those long dinners watching the matches. But I also remember that, during the games, I went outside or onto the balcony to play.
I would like to thank all of the fans who have supported me throughout my career with the New England Revolution, Fulham, Tottenham, Seattle Sounders, and the U.S. Men's National Team. Y'all have always made me feel at home, and it is something that I will always remember.
When people say 'American soccer,' they think of the U.S. national team. But American soccer also includes Major League Soccer, and until we have a league that produces players at the rate other leagues around the world do, I don't believe we'll ever get to where we want to be.
I was treated like a state enemy after throwing the captain's armband. Things went a lot further than I thought. I am the only one that paid a price as I'm no longer part of the national team. I sacrificed myself so that the team won't be booed anymore and players won't be cursed.
I think we have a big responsibility as the U.S. women's national team for women's football globally. I think everyone kind of looks up to us, whether they say they do or not. I think there is this awe and curiosity about what we've done in order to become as successful as we have.
I had role models in my community, guys that were older than me and played at university or on the national team. Eli Pasquale was always around UVic when I was a young player, and the national team was around Victoria a little bit, so I got to watch those guys and learn from them.
The most important thing is that Spain have a good team no matter who plays. It is always nice to see your name spoken but the important thing is that the national team does well. But having good players for every position is important because there are always injuries, drops of form.
The whole kiss-and-tell thing is a negative approach that often happens in a World Cup. We will see negative stories about the players and it can affect their confidence and the overall performance of the national team on the pitch, let alone the bid to actually stage the competition.
There might be more meetings and situations where you're required to represent the country in some way that wouldn't necessarily happen to you if you're a club manager, but other than that, I haven't found any differences in my approach between running a club side and a national team.
When I put on our U.S. kit, I do it for my family and for my country. But I understand now that I also do it for every single American girl out there who wants to see someone who looks like them - someone whose story reminds them of their own - when they watch their women's national team.
If I couldn't get to the national team, I wanted to get as much as I could out of soccer, and I think moving abroad was my opportunity to do that. I think that, in turn, playing with that freedom and that spirit allowed me to play a lot better. I escalated my game quickly just by being happy.
I wanted to play football or be a boxer, but my dad didn't want that because of all the impact. But in 1992 I was watching short track, and it was obscure, but they looked like superheroes in their tight outfits, and I thought it was amazing. I wanted to do that. I made the national team at 14.
A player should be disparaged if he gives less than his all, if he doesn't give 100%, no matter what shirt he's wearing. Whether it's your national team, your club, or little league. Yes, there are friendly matches, recreational ones, and so on, but sport in its essence is about giving your best.
How do we make hockey more affordable? How do we get it into more households? How do we keep it part of the conversation? Those are things that will help us not only increase registration numbers from a grassroots level but also deepen the player pool from the senior national team and the elite level.
For black and Asian people of my generation, the England team and the cross of St George were once ingredients in a toxic broth. For decades, a minority of England fans brought the nation and the national team into disrepute, bringing violence both to foreign streets and immigrant communities at home.