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I'm happy staying in the World Cup bubble with England and eliminating the distractions. Besides, I want to enjoy every minute of this unique experience, and I don't want to look back and think that I was just sat on my phone.
In the 1958 World Cup final, Sweden scored against Brazil and Didi went to the back of the net and talked to all the players. And he was not the captain, but he behaved like one. Every player has to behave as if he was captain.
If I'd still been in one piece from the World Cup and gone through my career, what type of player would I have been? No doubt about it, if I hadn't had as many injuries I would have been the all-time leading scorer for England.
I wanted to do a sports movie and discussed the same with my friend Jagdeep Sidhu, who is the writer of 'Harjeeta.' In the same year, the picture of Harjeet sleeping with the world cup went viral and caught Jagdeep's attention.
To be honest, the football and the time is going so fast. I don't want to say that I've forgotten about the World Cup, but for me, it belongs to the past. I don't have time to make a step backwards and think about the World Cup.
When I am an old man, I will tell my grandchildren bedtime stories about when I won the Champions League, hopefully when I won the World Cup, but most of all, I will tell them that their grandfather used to play with Lionel Messi.
Having played in U.S.A. in 1994, in France in 1998, as well as the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan - the first on the Asian continent - I have witnessed the excitement and passion unleashed in those different parts of the world.
There was a lot of buzz about me before the World Cup selection because I was consistent and aware about the hard work and smart work that I had put in. It will definitely reap benefits and help me in future when I play for India.
I think the World Cup is going to be bigger than what a lot of people are anticipating. At this stage in my career, when there is an opportunity, albeit a small one, of being on the team, what a great way to possibly end my career.
People make up their mind on whether you're a good player over seven games at a World Cup. You're great if you score goals and bad if you don't. I will always believe in myself, and those who doubt me will always continue to do so.
The '54 World Cup was the first time the people got the recognition back after the second World War and felt like they are proud of something you know it brought people back together and you know now we can keep our heads up again.
I won the quadruple at 18 with Arsenal, so I didn't really know what I was chasing after the World Cup, and I was a bit lost, so I didn't know whether to just be content at home and just play my football or go for another challenge.
The World Cup experience is more than just the game of soccer. It's an event. And it will fly by faster than you think. It will end and you'll be saying, 'Wow, it's over already?' You have to remember to take it all in and enjoy it.
I used to think, 'Everything's okay, or will be. I'll go on with this stance.' But after the World Cup, I was open to everything: if someone suggested a change in my technique I felt could work for me, I was willing to give it a try.
Yes there was a lot of buzz about me before the World Cup selection because I was consistent and aware about the hardwork and smart work that I had put in. It will definitely reap benefits and help me in future when I play for India.
Back in 2005, we lost in the semi-final of the World Cup and that was a great learning curve for the team. It gave us a goal and even more of a hunger to win the World Cup, so we went away and set ourselves a long-term plan to do it.
I started the 1998 World Cup with Teddy Sheringham up front but always planned for Michael Owen to face Colombia in our final group game because they defended square and a quick striker would be able to exploit the space behind them.
I feel that World Cup cricket should be played like football in which all the 160 countries take part. If only a handful of countries are going to keep on playing in the World Cup without making the game popular, I will be a sad man.
For everyone, the World Cup is important. It doesn't matter if you are 21, going for your first one, or 35 and going for your third one. It's the biggest stage you can play on, and every opportunity to experience it is something special.
You don't want to turn up like a Nepal or an Ireland where the entire world thinks that you're not going to win. You rather turn up like an India or an Australia or an England where everybody says this team is going to win the World Cup.
Every player wants to win the World Cup - every country wants to win the World Cup - so anything less than that is not really a bonus. Of course you can take positives out of everything, but you won't be entirely happy if you don't win it.
I played for Santos at 16, and we had an excellent team, so it helped a lot. And then I played for Brazil at the Maracana against Argentina. So I get more experience. This was one year before the World Cup, and it made a lot of difference.
I never think I want to go to another World Cup just to be in the record books again and play in six tournaments or four World Cups. If I am lucky enough to go, I want to go there to fight for my place and win something in an England shirt.
The more expensive and/or exclusive a sport, the whiter it tends to be: the fact almost has the force of a law. That is the main reason why the Rugby World Cup, the Pacific islands excepted, was so desperately white, the Springboks included.
My saddest decision in football was leaving Paul Gascoigne out of the 1998 World Cup finals. But he wasn't fit enough and once that decision is made, as a manager and a group of players, you forget about who isn't there and focus on the job.
When we left Mumbai to play in the World Cup there were hardly any journalists to see us off. But when we returned to India on July 25 having made the final, there were close to a hundred journalists at 2.30 in the morning. It was totally new.
It would make me a lot happier if I could meet up again next year with as many friends as possible from all over the world who I've met during my career. That's where the great opportunity lies, for me personally, in our role as World Cup host.
I had my father on the Under-21 team and during the World Cup in France in 1998 - and also in AC Milan for four months. So it was a weird experience, because having your father as a coach is pretty weird, and I was the captain. But he was great.
It is important for me, no matter whether I lead or not, that I continue my form even in the World Cup. It is important that you get runs because people look up to you, and the team also expects you to get runs being a senior member of the side.
At the most elite level, your nutrition becomes a lifestyle: it's not something you have to do when you're preparing for Olympic games or World Cup games - you just do it. You're more inclined to eat healthier because it's better for your muscles.
Playing for Chelsea doesn't compare to the pressure of playing for Brazil because we've won the World Cup five times. It's not only a massive country but football is part of the culture. They always want you to win, so you can never have an off-day.
I still remember my quote from the 2007 World Cup, when I said scoring two threes was as good as hitting a six. That was me trying to justify what you couldn't. To me, and this was before I became director of cricket, we just couldn't do that again.
As a player, perhaps you have the chance to take part in a World Cup or a European Championship twice or three times in a lifetime. Other competitions, you have another match three days later. Here, it's different: we know we're out if we don't win.
I want to win games, want to win championships. I want to go to the World Cup. I want to win a World Cup. I want to play in Champions League. I want to have fun throughout all of that, and I want my family to be a part of that through the entire path.
This will help us next year with the World Cup. I can imagine a lot of visitors from abroad will be here and asking what happened between 1933 and 1945. A lot of that will come up. I think this will make an important contribution to those discussions.
Being able to have the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA is a great honor for us. Being able to speak at the ceremony that announced they were bringing it here was a stepping stone for a young player like me. I'm happy that it's coming to Canada.
The Confederations Cup is interesting. It served Spain very well to take part and then go on to win the 2010 World Cup. We knew the stadiums, the atmosphere, the conditions and also the difficulties of a tournament which simulated the World Cup format.
The shot of Kapil Dev kissing the World Cup and hordes of Indian fans all over at Lord's is etched in my memory. Every Indian is proud of that victory, and every Indian player who has played the World Cup after that '83 win wants to bring the Cup home.
In World Cup qualifying in 1997, I will never forget Tony Adams and Sol Campbell: two very strong lions physically and mentally. Italy too had and has formidable defenders, but I have a great memory of those two. It was a pleasure to fight against them.
I tried golf for a while, but I wasn't very good at it, so I didn't play a lot of golf. I enjoy all sports, not just football. I like basketball, baseball, and I got into the World Cup. So really, sports in general are my life, and football specifically.
It's not like I'm against alcohol. It's just a decision I made, and if you've never had it, you don't miss it. I've been drenched in champagne a few times over my career. I might have a drink if England win the World Cup. That's one moment where I might.
The common vision is winning - and winning a World Cup. We have a three-year plan - win the World Cup, win the Olympics, win the Euros - and the common agreement is you want to create a legacy and win the World Cup; then, everything else falls into place.
You can put the players on the pitch but they always move and systems change. I think, though, that Messi has to be a special case and that the other nine outfield players should support him. But one player on his own is not going to win you the World Cup.
Zizou has been a leader wherever he has played. He was the captain of France, a World Cup winner and been a winner in all the clubs he played for. So he has enough experience to handle and manage a group. More importantly, he is a man who everyone respects.
It's important that you prepare the players for what happens at a tournament, like a World Cup, for example. You can get a better idea of a situation. They can get to know the conditions, the atmosphere in the country, the stadiums and the journeys involved.
People have been saying life will change for us now but me? No chance. I may be a World Cup winner but I will always be the lad who played cricket with his friends and cousins in the park on Stoney Lane in south Birmingham using an old milk crate for stumps.
In any football I have played in - and I have played in League One and as an international at the World Cup - the bare minimum is running around and showing the desire for the shirt. Then, the higher you go up the leagues, your football takes control of that.
I'd love to feature for the Barbarians. I'd love to win a Champions Cup, and I'd love to get to another World Cup and make a fist of it: get to a World Cup final at least and see what could have been, particularly after 2011 when Wales reached the semi-finals.
It was my proudest moment as a manager when England drew 0-0 with Italy in Rome to qualify for the World Cup finals. Fifteen years later, the stakes are equally high for both countries as they go head-to-head for a semi-final place at the European Championship.
My generation started in big tournaments. '88 Olympics, we got silver. '89 European Championship, we got gold. 1990 World Cup in Argentina, we got gold. '91 European Championship, we got gold, and then there was a civil war, and for three years, we didn't play.