The Surprising World of Professional Footballers: Post-Match Pizza, Naps and Online Casino Games

When we think of professional footballers, we naturally picture them in the gym, on the training ground or on the football pitch. Players live incredibly structured lives, being told where to be and for how long on a daily basis. Not only are they told what to do, they are also told what they are not allowed to do. It is even written into players' contracts that they are not allowed go skiing in the winter. This is because their employers pay insurance premiums that stipulate if a player is injured while skiing, the club will lose advantage of premium. This is due to the fact that it is an activity that is viewed as high-risk when it comes to injury.

Despite the high level of structure, there are some aspects of footballers' lives that may come as a surprise, most notably in the form of post-match pizzas, constant naps and playing online casino games. So, let's take a look at the reason behind why so many footballers engage in these activities on a regular basis...

Online Casino Games

Professional footballers have a lot of down time and they travel a lot, so they need to get creative when it comes to staying entertained. Just because elite athletes can't have a night out on the town very often, it doesn’t mean they don’t want to. Thankfully, technology has made it possible for people to enjoy all the thrills of a night out from the comfort of their own home in the form of online casinos.

More and more footballers are going online, on sites such as comeongames.com, in order to enjoy their favourite pastime. Some of the biggest names in world football are known to love casino games, including Cristian Ronaldo, Gianluigi Biffon and Neymar Jr.

Post-Match Pizza

When it comes to footballers, many presume that never eat anything unhealthy. However, you'll be surprised to learn that this is far from the case. A large proportion of footballers love to dig in to a pizza in the dressing room after a game. During 90 minutes of football, players use up a lot of energy and many professional teams have turned to pizza as the perfect post-match recovery meal.

It is also used as a form of motivation, with former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri using the promise of pizza in order to get the best out of players during their title winning season in 2005/16.

Regular Naps

In addition to spending their downtime appropriately and making sure to grab a slice of pizza after a big game, football players love to get as much sleep as possible. Getting enough sleep is crucial to achieving the optimal performance level, with many players going straight home for a nap after training each day. The importance of sleep has become a hot topic in recent years and professional footballers use it tactfully in order to gain any possible advantage over their opposition at the weekend.

Playing casino games online, eating pizza and sleeping during the day, and people have the nerve to say footballers have it easy!