Carli Lloyd

I want to be strong. I want to be able to hit people. I want people to be able to bounce off me. When I go out there and play, I play to intimidate people. If someone gets hit down by me, they're going to think twice about coming near me again.

I'm not having to go outside and switch the role model hat on. It's me, and it's important for me to leave that legacy to help inspire younger players because I didn't have a role model growing up.

When I first joined the team, I was playing with the likes of Mia Hamm, Shannon MacMillan, Tiffeny Milbrett - all those big-time players. It was very intimidating. I had some of these players' posters on my wall growing up, and now I was able to play with them.

Any professional athlete will tell you that the mind is everything. For me, there is no shame in saying that I visualize and I meditate, because it really works.

I have scored some big-time goals. I've done well in Algarve Cups. I've done well in World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, Olympics. In big games when we're playing top-five teams. But yet, you never see my face or my name out there. And it has frustrated me my entire career.

No one is going to remember a second-place team.

If I am training on a holiday, most likely nobody else is - and that gives me the edge. If I'm supposed to run for 20 minutes and I get back and it's only been 19:34, I'm going to jog in a circle for 26 more seconds. I'm never going to cut it short.

I think that what we do out on the field is oftentimes a little bit better than what men do. I don't think that we flop around as much. I think we're tough. I mean, I've got battle wounds on my legs from the turf and sliding. And we're gritty. And we're feisty. And I think that I would never back down from a guy.

Comic-Con is really cool. It's different. I like to people-watch. I like to see the costumes.

I sleep better on the road than I do at home. I'm used to sleeping in a million different hotels. I'm not home very often, so when I get home, I have things I want to do.

I've taken great pride in not being fragile.

Getting recognized and doing shoots and signing on partnerships and signing on deals, that's all great, and I'm so appreciative of that, but it's more the reward that's the most satisfying. I know the importance of working hard, and I appreciate pretty much everything that has come my way; I don't take any of it for granted.