“You can drink pints and eat pizza before games.”

One of the biggest surprises football has given in recent years was Leicester's triumph in the 2016 Premier. The Schmeichel, Drinkwater, Kanté, Mahrez or Vardy were champions of the English league. The defender Richie de Laet, now at the Royal Antwerp, was part of that squad and knows very well the ins and outs of those who were his companions. In the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad has granted an interview in which how many juicy details of those days. Jamie Vardy, whoever was the scorer of that magnificent team, has a special section for his atypical way of life.

“As a professional footballer, you know when you can have a drink and also when not, but Jamie is the exception par excellence … You can drink pints of beer and eat pizza on the eve of games and still be fine. “, says the Belgian defender. He even says that thanks to him and his family, Vardy had a supply of Belgian beer for several weeks. “For a long time, my parents and my friends had to make special shipments when they went to England. A couple of cases of beer in the trunk of his car, and Vardy was happy. “.

It is not in his taste to have a beer from time to time the madness of Vardy, Instead, he finds other passions in port wine. “The night before Game 11 (in which he breaks Van Nistelrooy's record for consecutive Premier League touchdowns) we were in our hotel room. We had our own ritual. We got the bus driver to buy us a bottle of port wine and we hid it in our room. I drank a small glass and he finished the rest of the bottle. The next day he broke the record. He really is a great guy, “De Laet joked about the English filmmaker. The truth is that Vardy already revealed his 'healthy addiction' to wine in his biography: “It helps me sleep a little easier.”