I came to Leverkusen as a very young player and didn't have many Bundesliga games back then. I wasn't well known.
My first club was FT Gern. I joined through my parents and friends. My father played for them and a friend from nursery school took me to training once. I was five at the time.
I was about five or six when I went to the little foundation camps. I got into the academy when I was nine, and I've gone through every age group since and into the first team.
The first time I met Leo Messi, I didn't know who he was, only that I couldn't believe the boots he was wearing. But he is like a brother to me. It was at the start of 2005, when I was with the Argentine under-17 squad and I saw him chatting with Ezequiel Garay and some other players about the boots he'd brought back from the U.S.A.
At six years old, our son had friends who played soccer from 4 P.M. to 7 P.M., Monday through Friday. A six-year-old practicing as much as a Division I athlete.
Kids are learning to play. That's why we're seeing an emergence. That's why we're seeing the Under-17s and Under-20s doing better in international football.
I played soccer when I was a kid. I started when I was 8 and played for 8 more years. I was pretty good. I used to train with Atletico Nacional, which is one of the most important teams in Colombia. I used to train every day.
I started to play at four years old. I went to Corinthians at nine years old. Then, it started to become more serious.
I was 15 when I made my debut for the national team.
Even all the top players going to Europe to play helps soccer in America, as do all the MLS players like Beckham and all that, they're trying to promote it. At the end of the day it's about getting the younger generation interested at an early age so most of them will move on and play.
Germany is where I had to become a true professional. They play in big games when they are young. We could model some of our soccer system after what they do.
Most of my players have come through academies with clubs. That's not a bad thing, but it's very different to what I grew up with.
Missing the 1978 World Cup made Maradona an even better player, as he showed on the following year at the Youth World Cup, and he never looked back.
I'm being told I've become an inspiration to a lot of young soccer players in Edmonton and to me, that's just awesome.
When I was 6 years old, I played on a coed indoor team. We were called the Cosmos. And then, after that, when I was 7, I played on an all-girls club team.
When they asked me what charity I wanted to play for on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' the first thing that came to my mind was that this would be a great opportunity to let people know about TOPSoccer.
Like every Brazilian child, I always wanted to be a footballer.
When you start at Ajax and you're six or seven years old, you're in the best team in the league - always. And you have to dominate, at home and away from home. A draw is never enough. A win is never enough.
At Southampton, my dad was the academy coach at under-11 level.
I started going training with Southampton, and they were selecting the team for the under-9s. I did a six-week trial and got in. I was quite lucky to play at a good standard from a very young age.
I was on a high after the Under-17 World Cup, with the manager talking about me a bit.
As an early teen, soccer is the number one thing that you do - and I wasn't very good at that.
Just playing with the lads in school, really, and having a kick around, and I ended up at a Sunday club just for girls, and there was only about 15- 20 girls there, and I just moved on to a club from there.
The Under-21s was a good experience for me and one I will take into the Euros.
Playing soccer is what I've done and known all my life, starting at such a young age with my friends.
