Julie Ertz

We want the N.W.S.L. to grow. It is growing; it's continuously growing every year. We want it to be sustainable. It's separate in the sense that this is a U.S. Soccer thing, but the idea is to grow soccer in general, and we want to do that any way we can.

I loved being an attacker so much. I mean, it wasn't so much that I didn't think defending was fun or anything like that. It was just - growing up, that's kind of all I knew - was attack, attack, attack.

I found people that were willing to push me. I was like, 'These are my goals. I need you to get me here.' I don't need any excuses. I won't make any excuses. I'm over making excuses.

I would love to inspire our nation and continue the success of U.S. women's soccer.

I love everything about football. You can learn so much from it, from leadership qualities to discipline. This sport involves every kind of emotion.

I think it's pretty crazy when I walk down in the airport and a 12-year-old boy comes up to me and says, 'Hey, I watched you at the World Cup. Great game! Great job!' I love that.

I would love to see myself as versatile - I think that's important as a player - but I think, realistically, I feel like kind of how the team sees me is probably more set in stone as a center-back defender, which is totally fine.

The World Cup has been life-changing, for many reasons.

It's important to be a soccer player in the sense of the whole vision - if you put me at forward, I can do it, or if you put me in midfield, I can do it.

Zach takes care of his body so well, it's unbelievable. He's so meticulous, like OCD, in what he does.

There were times when I tried to hide my muscles. When you're a young girl, you hear, 'You're really strong,' or, 'You have really toned arms.' In my head, it wasn't something that should be said about a girl. It should be more, 'You're pretty.'

Everything happens for a reason, if you work hard for it.