Vegetarian World Cup Stars

 The statues of Sir Stanley Matthews in Britannia Stadium depicting the different stages of his footballing career.

Photo source: Flickr

I've been following the World Cup 2010 matches closely since it started, my heart's set on Argentina taking home the trophy, although I'm less thrilled at the prospect of Argentinian coach Diego Maradona running naked through the streets of Buenos Aires if his team does win! They're going to have to get past Brazil and Paraguay, which seem to be playing exceptionally well this year. Still, with the winning streak that Argentina has displayed so far and with powerhouses such as Germany and Italy off-form this year, I'm prepared to wear sunglasses indoors on the fateful day.

After watching nobodies like Serbia, Mexico and New Zealand thrash the likes of Germany, France and Italy, anything's possible. There's something to be said about the underdog and about an underdog sub-group that's often overlooked in the world of football: vegetarian footballers. And while none of my favourites are playing for their country in South Africa this year, a handful of vegetarian footballers have actually made World Cup history in the past. Here they are in no particular order:

Carlos "La Lechuga" Roa 

The now-retired Argentinian goalkeeper was nicknamed "La Lechuga" or "The Lettuce" by his teammates due to his strict vegetarian diet. He was the goalie of the 1998 World Cup team and became a bit of a hero for not allowing any goals to slip past him in the group matches, what's more, he saved a penalty shot  during the Argentina-England match.

Damiano Tommasi

This Italian midfielder  for U.S. Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo played in all four of Italy's matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. News reports claim that he is quite the philanthropist, arranging for footballers' disciplinary fines to go to good causes. He may not be in the same league as the other players featured in this post, but I'm giving Tommasi brownie points for being a do-gooder and a vegetarian.

Gianluca Vialli

Before he became a football commentator, Vialli made a name for himself as an Italian striker and later manager of English football teams, namely Chelsea FC and Watford. Viallis is a committed vegetarian and one of nine footballers to have won the three main European club competitions. He was a squad member during the 1986 and 1990 World Cup teams. Vialli even has a pasta dish named after him!

Robbie Earle

England's most popular vegetarian footballer Robbie Earle may have created controversy at this year's World Cup, but back in the day, he made headlines as a midfielder, representing both England and Jamaica through the nineties and early part of this century. During the 1998 World Cup, he scored England's first goal during the finals. He retired two years later and became a popular football pundit in England.

Sir Stanley "The Magician" Matthews

Still the only English player to have been knighted while still playing, the late Sir Stanley Matthews was perhaps the first vegetarian footballer to make such a huge impact on football history. He was the first winner of the European Footballer of The Year and The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. During the 1950 World Cup, Matthews played in England's 1-0 defeat against Spain. Four years later, he helped England draw against Belgium at the World Cup in Switzerland. 

Source: Wikipedia