In sport, the margins between victory and defeat are often wafer thin.
Likewise the financial consequences of winning and losing — with millions of dollars now at stake — especially in football, can help redefine teams’ strategy for years to come.
Which is going to have consequences for the professional footballer of the future.
While many people’s perception of footballers is that they have a couple of hours of daily training slotted into a lifestyle of perks and temptations, the reality is that the sport has become an all-encompassing profession.
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So all-encompassing that off-field activities are closely monitored as much as the action on the pitch
And in future, according to Italian football club AS Roma’s director of performance Darcy Norman, to be successful professional footballers will lead lives that are likely to be even more demanding.
From the moment they wake up to the time when they go to bed they’ll be consumed with thinking about what is needed to perform to their optimum.
Norman has put together for CNN Sport a schedule for a day in the life of a player in the future. Welcome to the world of the 24/7 athlete.
