Jozy Altidore revealed the past two years have been difficult as he struggled at Sunderland before signing with Toronto FC, along with suffering a hamstring injury in the opening match of the World Cup.

"To be honest, the past two years, on the field and off the field, have been the hardest couple of years of my life," Altidore said. "I've had to grow a lot off the field as a man, as a person, and on the field. Obviously I've had injuries that derailed me as well.

"The past two years haven't been easy for me, but it's made me a better person, and I've gotten a lot of amazing rewards from these past two years as well. You take the good with the bad."

Asked what off-field issues had troubled him, Altidore said, "Just personal issues, and when things aren't right there, it makes it tough to go to work. I've been able to hopefully correct all those things and now get back to focusing on soccer.

"For a little bit of time, it wasn't at the forefront of my focus, which isn't fair to the club I was at the time and also myself as a professional. I'm just happy now to get a fresh start and get back to that."