Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards is eager to prove doubters in England about American players wrong.
Richards moved to Palace this past summer from Bayern Munich.
The USA international told Palace's website: The market (in the US) was very much based around American players: there was Landon Donovan at Everton, Clint Dempsey at Fulham and Tim Howard at Manchester United and Everton. Those games were always shown on TV.
Europeans definitely have that perception of Americans in general that we're lazy, that we're behind the ball when it comes to football.
But it also gives us that chip on our shoulder where we think: 'Alright, we need to prove ourselves.'" His Palace teammates have been sure to tease him but he has a pretty good riposte. The guys here made me feel welcome, and they throw jokes around: 'You shouldn't be able to play football, you're from the US!'
If they came to the United States to play any other sport, they would have big problems!"