In my heart of hearts, I thought, if we get a 1-0 win and the team doesn't perform well, that would feel good.

Do I feel pressure being a young player with high expectations? Nah.

I'm lucky to be doing what I love, and I appreciate that I can make a good living doing it. I love to play soccer-whether it's in a game, practice or playing with friends-so it isn't like I'm under pressure at all.

Fortunately for me, its my most favorite drill, and that is finishing. However, from a young age, soccer players in this country are not taught how to properly finish, and I think you see that through the professional ranks, that we dont have that killer instinct of the forwards from other countries.

I want to be a positive influence. I want to be someone who they want to call in and want here consistently, regardless of my role.

To imagine being in Germany having a home crowd is kind of silly, but we'll take it.

I've never asked a player if they would sign my shoe. I've certainly had players come up, even before the game has started, and say, "Hey, after the game, can we trade jerseys?" It's kind of like, "Well, let's get through the game first and we'll deal with that later."