Athlete

As an athlete, you are literally programmed to endure a specific amount of pain.

It feels a little bit odd to me that you have some guys that have never lived in the United States that play for the United States because they were able to secure a passport. To me, that just feels like they weren't able to make it for their country and earn a living, so they're coming here.

This might sound masochistic or narcissistic, I don't know, but when I'm not playing the game, the validations I feel about life are always through the hardships. I relate more to sadness, in a lot of ways, when I'm not playing.

Sometimes if you have a coach or team-mates for too long, you get caught in certain routines. I think it's good to shake up things a little bit.

The most important thing is that sometimes you have to go through hard times to get to the good stuff.

I don't care how many championships you've won or how many records you've broken - if you've had a hand in pushing forward not only a game but women in sport's movement, then I think that's pretty darn good.

My eldest sister Beth is a doctor who studied at Harvard and Columbia and played basketball for Harvard. She set the athletic and academic standard for the rest of us to follow.

My sole focus is to help bring a World Cup back to the U.S.

I have never once dribbled the whole field and scored a goal by myself.

Considering retirement is like skirting with the reality of what's to come, and I think that's why so many athletes decide to do more introspection at that point.

The most important thing is to get better at your craft, and concussions and head impacts are a setback.

When I look in the mirror, I don't see a person who's made the kind of impact that Mia Hamm made on the game. She's still my idol, the greatest player and the greatest teammate. She achieved so much in so many different ways. What she did for women's soccer can't be measured.

Soccer players generally burn through all of their carbohydrate stores by halftime, so how are you going to replace those? That's what we do at halftime.

It's always really challenging trying to go from player to player/coach. You have a kind of friendship basis of relationship with all of your teammates, and now you go to this power position where you have to make decisions that might hurt people's feelings.

I really enjoy helping people out, and I enjoy time spent with kids.

I haven't won a World Cup. There's things that haven't been finished, and I'm not afraid to fall flat on my face trying.

Sometimes when you fail, it allows you the opportunity to grow more motivation and get more intense about your training.

I'm fiercely patriotic, and the flag and the anthem is something that I really, really respect.

I want my legacy to be about the soccer, and if I can help people be happier in life in any capacity, awesome.

Forever, it was just soccer - passion, life, love. Then I got married, and I had to transfer some of my energy. I want to be my best for my country, but I also made a really big promise and choice to be the best in my marriage. That has not always been the easiest thing to manage.