“I played in Brazil until I was 6. It’s the most carefree soccer in the whole world. You kind of just play, do what you want with the ball and if you lose it and you just try and get it back. No yelling or anything like that. It’s a real technical kind of soccer. I’d say in the U.S. it’s real organized, real tactical, not so much every soccer player has to be skillful to be successful.”
— Benny Feilhaber, 21, who has won a starting spot in the midfield for Hamburg SV, which he joined after playing for the USA in the 2005 U-20 World Youth Championship. Feilhaber, who immigrated with his family to Southern California from Brazil, played two seasons at UCLA. (New York Times)