There's no reason that young girls shouldn't feel like they can't smash people on the field. Nothing dirty. You want to keep it clean. You just want to play hard. Get your jersey dirty, shorts dirty, and just have fun out there.

Nothing in life is worthwhile unless it's kind of hard to get there.

The harder you work and the more prepared you are for something, you're going to be able to persevere through anything.

Every time I step onto the field, whether people like it or not, I'm not trying to play dirty - I'm just playing tough. And I'm trying to earn my spot on the team. I'm trying to earn a starting spot. I'm trying to become a complete midfielder who attacks, who defends. So that's the mindset.

Playing in Wembley Stadium in front of 83-some-thousand fans to win a gold medal was unreal. I think, male or female, that was a record number.

You can be angry and pissed off at the coach and put your head down and pout. Or you can rise above it, respect the decision, but also know that you're going to go and work that much harder and prove everybody wrong. And that's the road that I chose.

When I first met him [James Galanis], he just said, "Look, if you want to be a professional soccer player, if you want to make the national team, you have to do everything possible to work hard. You’ve got to put it number one."