I have always loved the Summer Olympics.
[Olympics] obviously, is not the easiest thing to do, and nobody makes any money out of. Yet, for the small amount of money they could [invest] in a Formula One race, they don't want to do it.
To say I have played through four World Cups, two Lions tours, 91 international games and a ridiculous number of injuries and other setbacks gives me an incredibly special feeling of fulfilment. I know myself well enough to know that I will never truly be satisfied.
The Olympics is not a race I want to watch on television and think 'I wonder what I could have done if I was there?
The conditions are always slightly better back in the U.K. There's a lot of distractions when you play away in China and it's very easy to get on a bad run out there, with various things going on when you play.
You want to play in the massive games. We all want to be out there, doing well for the country.
I don't think the qualifying fixtures excite people. They're games against countries that we are expected to beat, rightly so, and then how many we score dictates whether it's a good performance or not.
What the Olympics and other mega-events have shown is that the significant investment required to host an international games successfully has the power to transform a region, and even a nation.
The Olympics is the biggest competition for all athletes and an unforgettable event.
It's a privilege to be able to play a host country in a host nation, because it's just that much bigger and these are the type of games that we love.
The top clubs in the Premier League benefit very much from the fact that there are six teams on a very high level. They have so many games against each other so that they practically play Champions League the whole year. That helps them very much to persist in the international games.
I have never played in Mexico. It is something I have always wanted to do and I would not close the door on any offer.
