While everyone lauds natural talent when it comes to the best soccer players in the world, they certainly don’t get to the epitome of the sport without constant hard work and dedication in training. Let’s look at how the best soccer players in the world train.
If you need a prime example of this, Sir Alex Ferguson – the manager who forged Cristiano Ronaldo – said that Ravel Morrison was the most talented player he’d ever seen. However, he lacked the dedication and work ethic to reach the top. Now he’s a journeyman, having lightly featured for 12 clubs to date.
So here, we’re looking at those top talents who have put in the hard graft, sticking to training regimes and, essentially, diet plans to enhance their skills and remain competitive at the highest level.
Mohamed Salah
If there’s one player who you could point to as the next most-likely successor to the Ballon d’Or crown, it has to be Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian continues to be sensational for club and country, being pivotal in Liverpool’s return to relevancy.
This season, he’s topping the league scoring charts again, with William Hill having him down as the 1/14 favorite as the Premier League top goalscorer, again, and 11/1 second-favorite to lead the scoring in the Champions League. Speed, stamina, and durability are Salah’s biggest strengths in the field, and while his workouts are key to this, it’s clear that his diet plays a major role as well.
He’s spoken many times about the importance of nutrition in interviews, with his breakfast being comprised of milk, paratha, and sometimes fruits. Lunch is the time to pile on calories via lentils, chicken, and vegetables. He even coaches teammates on dieting, reportedly telling Harvey Elliott that one piece of bread was more than enough for one day.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo has long been hailed as one of the two best players in the world, and with 18 goals in 32 games for a failing, incoherent Manchester United side already this season, he still belongs in the pantheon. It’s easy to forget that he’s 37-years-old, given his incredible athleticism and drive throughout 90 minutes each game.
He owes this to his diet, and particularly, his training regime, which is mainly to do with working the whole body for strength and stamina. He’ll always do some cardio work and stretching to warm-up before mixing up the glut of the training with focussed cardio or weight training, all of which involve targeted exercises to cover the whole body.
Lionel Messi
Even though his talent and statistics cannot be argued against, even Lionel Messi recognizes that he could have been in better shape in the earlier years of his career. In the present day, he’s focussed on perseverance and remaining at the top of the sport, he’s left the likes of fizzy drinks, pizza, chocolate, and alfajores behind. Now, it’s all about water, whole grains, fruit, olive oil, and vegetables, avoiding pesticide-sprayed food, and especially sugar.
Messi’s training is focused on keeping him at his best for his style of play for the entirety of each match. So, the main part of his regime concerns doing cardio and lots of stretching to maintain his speed. He doesn’t aim to get stronger or build muscles, instead, he reinforces his core and leg muscles through hurdle hops, lunges, and pillar skips.
Any soccer player can be as dedicated as these stars, but clearly, it’s their drive on top of their talent that puts them into that elite tier.
