I had to tell Dad, 'It will be okay and be positive; keep praying and have faith'. I have always known about cancer, but to be around someone who has it and to see what it does in such a short space of time was hard. It makes you think about your life, about what is important.

To win a major tournament you have to face the top teams at some point, but if you avoid those at the beginning then you can win games and build confidence. I think the key is just to get off to a good start.

I don't feel like I'm getting older. I think it's the way I've looked after myself. I take my football seriously. I love scoring goals and I get a good feeling from it, so I'll do whatever it takes to be fit and feel good in games.

When you are young nothing is more important than football but as you get older, you get married, have kids and lose people. Then you realise your family is more important. This comes with age.

Before games, people ask whether I get nervous. To be honest, I don't get nervous, I just enjoy it. I am living the dream. When I was a kid I always wanted to play for my country and now I am here, I will enjoy it.

I've always been a religious person, and I try to think that every disappointment might just be a blessing in disguise.

It doesn't matter who you are, football's a business. At some stage you're going to have to leave a football club, that's just normal.