Coming out of high school, however, I wasn't a decorated recruit. As a result, I found myself one month from signing day with only two scholarship offers and they were from the Mid-American Conference.

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was a college football junkie. My mom attended the University of Iowa and so I can remember I used to run around the backyard in a number 6, Tim Dwight Iowa jersey when I was very little.

I’m not a guy who wants to skydive and open my parachute at the last minute. I want to open my parachute right away and know what’s coming.

I constantly want to be learning, growing and better understanding things. And see where that takes us.

Social networking sites are an easy way to insult people. People have sent me messages saying that they are praying for me to get injured. Such messages are not nice, because I love playing football: I love playing for my club; I love playing football for Ghana.

All my life, I've had a strong belief that I want to judge myself and others on their contribution, not their sex. I don't think much of it when employers want applause for hiring women or minorities. Whether for the Supreme Court or McDonald's, if you hire the best person, you'll have a diverse workplace.

I just had a normal African childhood; we played football a lot, but it was always in the street and always without shoes. Boots were very expensive, and when there are seven in your family, and you say you want to buy a pair, your father wants to kill you.

Sportsmanship is definitely an important thing in all sports. In soccer, we all respect each other on such a high level, between Sweden and Brazil and Japan or whatever team it is.