Chow like a Bok

With less than 50 days to go to the World Cup, we take a gander at what the Boks are likely to throw down their gullets the night before a game and on match day.

Given today’s late kick offs so broadcasters who pay top dollar to bring the games to our TV screens can get their pound of flesh out of advertisers and sponsors, the modern day professional player finds him or herself with plenty hours to kill on game day. So what do they do?

All players have different pre-game rituals, but if it’s a late kick-off they will generally go to bed quite late the night before a match and then try and sleep in as late as possible on match day.

On game day they will have a stretching session at the hotel, power through a team talk or two, listen to music, play cards, watch a movie, talk kuk in the team room, and they will feed in order to fuel those finely tuned engines.

Depending on their location, with sea level and humidity being influencers, the Boks will consume around 4 litres of water and 2 litres of Energade per day.

Obviously the players listen to different types of music, but the team will play 1 or 2 selected songs in the final team talk, these differing from week to week, and then it’s the National Anthem on route to the stadium in the team bus.

Food the night before a game consists of:

• Assorted breads, condiments and soft drinks
• Help yourself salad bar consisting of a variety of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta, beetroot, grated carrot with raisins, and waldorf salad with low fat dressing
• Pasta and sauce selection – all served separately: Spaghetti and Penne Pasta, Napolitana sauce, Beef bolognaise, Mushroom sauce (sans cream). Served with bowls of Parmesan, chilli and garlic
• Skinless lemon and herb chicken breast and tuna (great for their Omega-3* intake)
• Savoury rice
• Mashed potatoes, again sans cream
• Fruit salad and low fat yoghurt

And then on the top up table in the changing room on game day:

• A selection of sandwiches on white and brown bread with egg, lean ham, chicken, tuna and turkey (with light mayonnaise and no cheese)
• Flapjacks with maple syrup, honey and banana
• Banana, carrot or date loaf (with no icing)
• A variety of fresh fruit which always including bananas
• Sushi (who would have thought, but sensational for Omega-3*)
• Fruit juice, mineral water, Energade, smoothies and iced coffee

*When it comes to fat, there’s one type you don’t want to cut back on: Omega-3 fatty acids. Found in fish like tuna, salmon and anchovies, not only does your body need these fatty acids to function, but they also deliver some big health benefits like lowering elevated triglyceride levels and curbing stiffness and joint pain.

This post was written in conjunction with Lucky Star