“I’ve played in three different countries, and I coached in Sweden, and the thing about soccer is you meet so many different people from all around the world, and you’re united by a common love of the sport. I envision the game being hotly contested for the fact that both teams want to advance to the next round – not because of politics or because of relations between our countries. We’re soccer players and we’re going to compete and they’re going to compete and that’s it.”

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