Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole in action for England.
By Matt Hale. Friday, 27 May 2005.
Click here to download Windows Media Player.
Forget what you know about Ashley Cole. Whilst by his own admission he is sometimes perceived as 'flash and arrogant', things couldn't be further from the truth, as he exclusively told TheFA.com at the England team base in Chicago.
Having been named in the starting XI for all his 39 international appearances to date, and with Premiership and FA Cup winners medals to his name at just 24 years of age, you would expect Cole to think a lot of himself.
But the England left-back claims his reticence in the past has not been arrogance, as some have claimed, but rather a natural shyness that makes him uncomfortable in the limelight.
"I’m quite a shy person, and don’t show my emotions too much," he said in a moment of reflection. "When I do then something must be up!
"I just try to focus on the job at hand and if it’s me playing football I just want to win things and that’s what I try and do.
"I’ve spoken to journalists before and they probably thought I was flash and arrogant, but I’m just shy.
"I think people are starting to understand me now though."
With his domestic season finishing on a high as Arsenal lifted The FA Cup at the Millennium Stadium last weekend, the England left-back, now a senior figure in the Three Lions set-up, is a man very much at ease with life, despite some high pressure moments both on and off the field this year.
"I try not to think about it too much," he says of the stresses facing a top class footballer today. "If you think about the bad things in life it just brings you down."
"I’m happy with my life and I’m happy with my football. For me I’ve just got to enjoy my life - I’m young and just want to win things.
"I’ve come off a good result in The FA Cup, so to come here has made me a happy man."
With that Arsenal victory fresh in his memory, and his cool finish past 
Manchester United's Roy Carroll in the penalty shootout in particular, Cole also revealed an interesting approach to penalty taking - driven by fear of failure!
"I don't imagine myself scoring as I walk up, I imagine myself missing – that's the scary part and it makes me more desperate to score," he said.
"Some players visualize themselves scoring, but I'm not like that – I always think of the worst things that can happen so that if they don't then it feels even better.
"But I don't think you can be a loser in a penalty shoot-out because if you miss then you miss, but if you score then you're a hero so I'm always up for taking a penalty in a shoot-out."
"You just have to focus and concentrate on where you're going to put the ball and put it there."
Since the squad's arrival in Chicago, Cole and a number of others from the squad visited some of America's footballing youngsters, one of whom thought that he won a car and not The Cup last weekend.
The talented full-back hopes they'll know exactly who he is after this Saturday's match, when he feels the younger members of the squad will grab their chance in an the England shirt with both hands.
He said: "America are improving as a side – they made the quarter-finals at the last World Cup, so it's going to be a tough game for us. But I think it'll be a great chance for the young players and I think they'll come out and shine."