Gurpreet Singh Sandhu likes to spoil himself with post-match meal

When Indian footballer and goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu tries to warm up and leads towards the game, as the minutes are passing; all he is thinking about is the first moment that he’ll make contact with the ball and make sure it’s a good one.

"I want it to be the foundation of the rest of the minutes that I’m going to be on the pitch for. All I’m thinking about is doing my best, and not to drift away in trying to fix other people’s problems on the pitch. It usually kind of makes you unstable in your performance and that’s what I think about as well, before the game. Just trying to not do mistakes on the pitch, and make sure I’m zoned in," Sandhu says.

Game mantra
On game days, usually Sandhu tries to treat is as a normal day. Mentality, especially on a game day, is to stick to a routine because the games are usually played at night.


"The entire day you can think about the game and stay nervous, or get on with your life and do things normally. Usually when I’m playing home games in Bengaluru, I try to do things very normally and do all the usual routines that I have. But when we are away, it’s a bit more challenging because you are waiting for the game. You are away from your comfort zone as well. So, all I try to do is not think much and stick with the routine," Sandhu says.

Eating joys
The 29-year-old's first meal, usually he sticks to breakfast throughout the season i.e., some oat with dry fruits, dry nuts and a couple of fruits and berries and strong Americano.

"Usually, it is suggested that on the day before the match you do the carb loading. That’s what I’m looking for in the last meal of the day before a game. I try to eat as much quinoa, brown or even white rice, and also have things like normal dal. Because I’m a vegetarian, I stick to sautéed veggies and I stick to tofu. I love all kinds of beans; rajma, chhole, chickpeas, all of these beans. But not too much with the masala," he says.

Breakfast is Sandhu's favourite healthy meal. "There is nothing like it, because I enjoy it so much for the crunchiness of the nuts and seeds that I add. Sometimes the oat clusters that I have, I add a scoop of protein as well. I have it with water, and sometimes if I want to spoil myself, I have it with almond milk with some honey on top and coffee next to me. That’s one of my favourite healthy meal," he says.

Field flavours
All of the players have different routines before stepping on the pitch. For Sandhu, he tries to not have anything. Sometimes he tends to go on an empty stomach because he feels it helps him focus more on the pitch.

"Usually, I don’t have anything before getting on the pitch. Maybe just a cup of coffee or some coconut water. It is recommended to have a pre-game meal around four hours before the match, as it gives you enough time for digestion as well as sustainable energy. I try to have a lot of complex carbs and healthy fats; peanut butter, avocados and things like that," he says.

He always has a fistful of dry-fruits. "I take half a can of Red Bull before the game, and the other half in half time. It helps me so much during half time because you need that instant energy to go out on the pitch and play the second half of the game. So yeah, the Red Bull is my ‘go-to’ thing during half time. It helps to take me on that level where I need to be before performing a high physical activity. It has helped me to gain that focus and it has elevated my game; to be able to perform on the pitch a lot better. I love to do that, and will continue to do that," Sandhu says.

After joy
In the post-match meals, footballers usually stick with carbs. "I tend to have a good amount of carbs, be it pasta, a sandwich sometimes or a good amount of rotis. I try to spoil myself in the post-match meal a little bit. Definitely as a vegetarian, for protein I need the dal, the veggies and the various amounts of broccoli. I try to keep one cheat meal a month. Being a Punjabi, I love parathes. I love to have aloo paranthe with some curd and some chhole masala. That’s what my cheat meal is. But if that isn’t there, maybe a good burger. A good vegan burger," he ends.