We arrived at the 2002 World Cup with two titles, very calm, well organised, maybe missing a bit of concentration. But the only truth is on the pitch. The dangers are there.
The best goal I have scored for the national team would be during the 2002 World Cup against Portugal. It was my first World Cup and my first goal in the World Cup. It was like a dream, and that's why it was so memorable.
The World Cup is the World Cup, and I'm sad I won't play in it; that's my only regret. But to play a friendly with my national team, I did it many times, so it's not something I'm missing.
The first time I watched a World Cup game was in 2002. That was the first time Senegal had ever qualified for the World Cup, and it was great moment that I will never forget in my life. I was ten years old at the time, and that experience of watching my country in a World Cup is what inspired me to become a footballer.
Away from the pitch, I'm a very calm person. I maybe have the odd cross word with my wife, like any relationship, but that's it.
Having played in U.S.A. in 1994, in France in 1998, as well as the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan - the first on the Asian continent - I have witnessed the excitement and passion unleashed in those different parts of the world.
You think about past World Cups - in 2006, it was a fantastic Brazil team, but we did not do so well that year. In 2010, the same: it did not go far, either - only the quarter-finals. But in '94 and 2002, Brazil did not play the best football but won the World Cup; they found a way to win.
The Confederations Cup is interesting. It served Spain very well to take part and then go on to win the 2010 World Cup. We knew the stadiums, the atmosphere, the conditions and also the difficulties of a tournament which simulated the World Cup format.
If I get two strikes, I'll go to a pitch maybe that will help induce that a little bit.
Everything I experienced in the national team was amazing. I was there for 14 years and won several titles: the Copa America, Confederations Cup and the World Cup.
Missing the 1978 World Cup made Maradona an even better player, as he showed on the following year at the Youth World Cup, and he never looked back.
"Poor Mrs. Benefer," Heather murmured. "Well, a nice cup of tea and she'll be right as rain.""Oh, puh-leeze, Heather. A nice cup of tea, indeed. A nice cup of tea, two Prozac, and sleep for a week, maybe..."
I prefer to be a great team not only on paper but also on the pitch. The pitch is the truth. The pitch speaks.
I wanted to play for England at a World Cup and to grace the pitch for even two minutes at such a big tournament would have been huge.
Dangers are sum like a kold bath, very dangerous while you stand stripped on the bank, but often not only harmless, but invigorating, if you pitch into them.
George, she says it's the truth that matters. We live and die for the chance to maybe tell a little bit of the truth, maybe shame the Devil just a little bit before we go.
I like to think the world wasn't ready for me, but maybe the truth is that I wasn't ready for the world. I've always arrived too late for my life.