Tobin Heath
I always try and get as many as touches as I can with the ball because that's the most important thing for me as a player is to feel comfortable in that way.
I think it's being able to do both, obviously being able to play your role in the team and those responsibilities but also being able to have that freedom... to express yourself in the way that you play.
I think you have to obviously be familiar with how the team wants to play and play to that style. But I think you also have to find a way to be yourself.
In football in this country, we want to be able to check off every box of a soccer player. You have to be good at this and this and this. Because of our society, and the way that I grew up in soccer, I had to become well-rounded-but I also cherished the parts of me that made me special.
I just know who I am and what I like.
It was almost like I gravitated toward the people who were encouraging me to be like myself and to be creative and be different.
My coaches - and even my parents - wanted to give me the space for exploration to see what I could do. Or even to see what I couldn't do and what I would want to learn how to do. It was always about inspiring me and giving me that freedom that you would want in childhood.
People don't want to just root for a team anymore. They want to root for something more.
The most important thing to me is to inspire all these athletes in the next generation.
I'm passionate about making this country and the youth passionate about football.
I think the most effective coaching for youth is to encourage them to try things, to be unique and be different.
I'm really pleased with WPS and the quality of players and the teams.
Being an Olympic athlete doesn't change who you are as a person.
I enjoy the outdoors.
Obviously Manchester United's tradition and history speaks for itself.
I'm aware that I'm now a role model for younger players. I bring more maturity to practice - it's more of a work environment to me, where I consciously work to get better each day.
The greatest tip ever told to me is 'Don't be afraid to make mistakes.'
As a soccer player, that's the greatest dream, to win a World Cup.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a Christian home and an awesome family.
Our family was just really passionate about Jesus.
I can't even imagine going through life without my relationship with Jesus.
I had an opportunity to play for Paris St-Germain when I was younger and it's important for me to represent a club with that amount of history because of the type of footballer I am.
I want to play for a big club.
We don't make enough in our job to live the way that we would want to and to have the support that we would need. Most of our income doesn't even come from our salary from our employer and we have to find income from other places.
Everybody wants to be winners - you have to trust that God has a greater plan for this even when you can't see it.
My platform might be a little bigger than someone else's, but everyone has a purpose.
Like many kids, I wanted to do my own thing so it wasn't until around the end of high school and start of college that I started to develop my own faith.
I wasn't put here to win gold medals or national championships. I've been placed here to be a light for Christ.
People can find out a lot about you by watching the way you practice, play and live your life. And all of that can be a testimony to what and who you believe in. When you put all of those things together and try to live your life in a way that is pleasing to Christ, it's noticeable.
The sport of soccer in general is very combative. People don't realize it's very one-on-one a lot of times.
Unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometime.
I don't really like... fame in general.
I don't really dwell on things.
It's always an honor and a privilege to play in front of supporters from the club I grew up with.
When it comes to the challenges of being an entrepreneur and a female, specifically a female entrepreneur, it's something that we really have been living for a long time in a different pool.
There are just so many parallels between sport and business.
I spent my whole life as a soccer player and I've honed every skill, I continue to hone them, you can never be good enough.
Each Olympics is different.
My first WPS season was a bust.
Lifestyle off the field influences your play on the field.
I find European football sometimes a little boring.
It's easy to continue to go out to the field, even if I'm by myself or running and lifting and doing what I need to do - it's actually easy because I love what I do.
That's the easy part, to continue to do what you love, to focus, to train, there's no extra motivation that needs to be added to that.
Being a two-way player that's consistently transitioning from offense to defense, it's imperative I fuel my body with an all-natural source of performance energy like Glukos that keeps my energy levels high.
Whether you're an athlete or just someone aspiring to be at the top of your game - in the workplace, gym or even at home - it's important to have that special something that sets you apart and helps you stay focused.
Everyone wants to come to Portland to play, whether for us or against us.
I think that's part of the beautiful game. It's kind of this special relationship that happens in football, where you get kind of influenced by the people around you and the different cultures around you and it allows you to grow and develop.
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.
Our national team is very unique in the way we want to play.