Nutrition plays a crucial role in the match performance and recovery of the athlete. To apply the principles of sports nutrition in football, this book provides nutrition basics as well as insight into the physiological demands of the game itself by looking into what elite players eat and drink. Appropriate food choices and timing are also important for a player to perform hard, avoid illness, and recuperate from injury. This book uses the UEFA 2020 Expert Group Consensus Review on Nutrition in Elite Football to give evidence-based guidelines for optimizing football performance through appropriate nutrition and the latest comprehensive information on nutrition guidelines for professional players-also relevant to the amateur player. Included are the specific needs of female players and match officials and relevant issues such as eating during travel and food hygiene. Finally, the book provides some sample meal plans for training, match, and recovery days, including recipes by two top performance chefs who regularly prepare meals for elite players. The science behind sports nutrition is evolving fast. Knowing what the top professional players are eating and drinking can help amateur players improve their own performance, recovery, and health.

Michael Gleeson is Emeritus Professor of Exercise Biochemistry in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University (UK). He is a world authority on exercise biochemistry, immunology, and nutrition. Recently he was a co-author of the UEFA Expert Group Consensus Statement on Nutrition in Elite Football, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Michael has advised on minimizing risks of infection and performance nutritional strategies for numerous professional sports clubs and organizations, including the English Institute of Sport and several English Premier League football clubs. He is a nutrition consultant to Leicester City FC and has worked with other top clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City. Michael lives in Leicestershire. Rachel Muse BA Mathematics; courtesy appointment at Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, Philadelphia, USA. She is the founder of Luxury Catering Company with its own successful pop-up restaurant 'Talk Eat Laugh'. Rachel trains private chefs for placing with clients and works closely with nutritionists and elite athletes (including professional soccer players) to develop recipes. Bruno Cirillo BSc Global Nutrition and Health; MSc Sport and Exercise Nutrition; first team and academy nutritionist at FC Nordsjaelland, Denmark (Danish Superliga), and is an elite performance chef.