Quotes from Julie Foudy

With loss comes growth.

I understand every parent has a different risk threshold. And I realize life is full of risks, even including harmful chemicals that we interact with on a daily basis.

You develop a bond that comes from spending too much time together.

Imagine the day when girls everywhere won't have to fight for the right to be recognized for their great work or their contributions to society.

Yes, Clay Matthews has a long, golden, Fabio-esque flowing mane that most women would chick-slap someone for. And yes, the shiny, beautiful, dark locks that cascade out of Troy Polamalu's helmet are the envy of volume-challenged women and bald men everywhere. But do we need to talk about it incessantly?

The ebb and flow of daily life can lead to wonderful highs, crushing lows, and everything in between.

My teammates and I are best known for our penalty kick victory against China to win the 1999 Women's World Cup. But a lot of people don't realize that when we were first playing soccer on the Women's National Team, the Women's World Cup didn't exist. In fact, Women's Soccer wasn't even in the Olympics.

The Women's World Cup gives FIFA a chance, once every four years, to showcase the growth of women's soccer. It gives FIFA a highly visible opportunity to encourage countries around the globe to also support their women's programs. It gives FIFA the forum to show countries the potential of women's soccer if only you support it.

In the end, we all seek one thing in life, regardless of gender: to be recognized for the hard work we have done and to leave our sport or business or entity in a better place than when we came in.

I'd always thought leadership was a CEO or president or person in a position of power. And honestly, to me, that meant a man - because that's what I was reading about in history books growing up.

We love to make sure all the boxes are checked - that we aren't just prepared but over-prepared before we raise our hand. It's that discipline that I love most about women, but it's also what holds us women back the most because by the time we raise our hand, that opportunity is often gone.

I think that was one of my biggest worries. I didn't want to be so focused on soccer that it became my whole life.

Stressing out over how you look, what you're wearing, or when you're getting home is not worth it.

It all comes down to perspective. When I get crabby about something, like the delay that was driving me crazy because I told my kids I'd be home for dinner, I have to remind myself where it fits in the scheme of things. We have to say, 'That's life,' which can sometimes be comforting.

I don't know if there's any sport that's stupid, but I really don't understand curling. I guess I'm just not into brooms on ice.

My role models were all men. I grew up - I was a big 1980s Laker fan: you know, the years of Worthy, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and, you know, eight-foot-tall men that I could never emulate, and then these big 300-pound football players.

I remember the first time I played on a synthetic turf field. I thought, 'Wow, this is amazing. What is this stuff?' It seemed so much better than that concrete-like Astro Turf that was essentially just a green, thin carpet over hard ground.

Life doesn't just happen. You happen to life. You decide how you want to write your story.

You don't need a title. You don't need a degree in business organization or be trained in the finer arts of persuasion. You just need to believe you can lead. So start there. Start believing.

My teammates are the ultimate motivation. They mean everything to me. They are the reason I want to be at my best.

I always thought it would be so much fun to write a book.

Having a love-hate relationship with road trips is inevitable.

If there is one certainty in soccer, it is this: The quickest road to becoming a winning soccer team is to have a great goalkeeper.

When I was growing up, you couldn't watch soccer on TV. But now, you can get it on every channel, every hour of the day, every day, literally.