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

I used to focus more on scoring. Now I take a lot of pride and pleasure in helping someone else do well.

I didn't have to step up into a leadership role, ... I just had to be there and help out where I could. But this year I had to be more of the man.

I think about the things I control and do them well.

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."

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 don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. We have a new challenge.