Becoming a professional footballer requires you to take full advantage of any point of difference you can possibly find – and proficiency in another sport can be a huge asset.
Peter Schmeichel attributes his famous starfish sprawl to his handball background. Petr Cech believes playing as a goalie in ice hockey prepared him well for football. Didier Drogba points to the intelligence and footwork skills he learned playing basketball. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both learned balance and body control from taekwondo.
