7 Surprising Foods Soccer Players Eat Before a Match

Running around after a ball for 90 minutes is no joke. You need strength, endurance and loads of stamina. So, how do these soccer players do it? Besides gruesome hard work and training, there’s the important factor of food, which serves as fuel for all the energy used. Let’s have a look at some of the unsual foods soccer players eat.

Breakfast For Champs

Undoubtedly, breakfast is an essential meal, not just for soccer players but for everyone. It fires up the metabolism for the day but also plays a crucial part for brain food to make those essential strategic passes, tackles and tricks.

1. Quinoa

There are various types of porridges on the menu for soccer players but some grains tend to be heavy. Opting for lighter grains makes for a better game play. Quinoa is a popular nutritional option.

HealthFood Warehouse Quinoa White 1kg

2. Wraps and Bread

Carbs and proteins are the two main food groups for building muscle and storing energy. Of course, eggs would be on the menu for breakfast and so is the arch enemy of the banters and keto-ers – BREAD. Soccer plays rely on carbs as the primary source of energy and bread and wraps are a good way to kick off the day.

Snacks

Arsenal Nutritionist, James Collins, says ” “Typically footballers can struggle to get enough protein. They have grown up knowing they need a carb-based diet for energy so they rarely lack carbs, but that’s not necessarily the case for protein, which is so important for muscle recovery – especially as training has become more explosive over the years.”

Thus, the snacks eaten by footballers are more protein based and usually homemade, containing very little sugar. This list includes:

3. Protein Flapjacks

Check out this damn good recipe from Coachman

Ingredients 120g rolled oats 100g Meridian peanut butter 60g whey protein powder 125-150g skimmed milk (almond milk and other % fat milk can be used instead but weights may vary) 15g acacia honey

Method Place whey and oats into large bowl; mix together Add milk and peanut butter and mix together until evenly mixed Add honey and stir evenly through mixture Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and drizzle a touch of coconut oil  Spread mixture onto paper (1-3cm thickness) Place in fridge for 30 minutes Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C (gas mark 5) 10-12 minutes in oven Remove, slice and leave to cool

Pro Performance AMP               Rolled Oats

           

                             

 

4. Protein Mousse

Try this recipe from ProteinPow

Ingredients  400 g coconut yoghurt (vanilla) 400 g coconut yoghurt (vanilla) 1/4 cup Granulated Stevia (any granulated sweetener will do) 1/4 cup Whey Protein Powder 1/4 cup Coconut Sugar 1/4 cup Coconut Milk 4 squares Unsweetened Dark Chocolate (melted) 1/4 cup Pea Protein Powder (or casein) 1/2 tbsp Stevia Drops (optional, nice if you have a sweet tooth)

Method Blend all frosting ingredients together using a hand-held blender or food processor. Taste the frosting to ensure it hits all your noms. Feel free to add more sweetener or cocoa powder to it (if you want it sweeter or more chocolatey).

           Stevia Liquid                      Pea Protein Powder
                  

                                            

Different Sources of Carbohydrates

James Collins goes on to say. ” It’s not all about pasta and rice for carbs these days as the players get bored of them pretty quickly. We like to offer different sources of carbohydrates such as amaranth, which is popular with South American players, and farro, which the Italians and French enjoy.”

5. Amaranth

6. Farro

Find out how to cook super grains such as Farro and Amaranth:

 

After Match Foods

7. Sushi

Eating after the game is as important as eating before. Players are encouraged to have a wide range of food in a buffet form. Sushi is on top of the list.