Prepare for a game like Gini: The matchday

“I look to get up at nine o’clock on matchdays…”

Even if it’s an evening game because we train in the morning. On those days, we’ll then go back to the hotel, sleep, get up again and prepare for the game. So, it’s always nine o’clock for me. I’ll also pray before matches in the morning when I get up. That’s my only pre-match ritual.

“What I eat on matchday depends on how I feel that day...”

In the morning, I will eat bread with strawberry jam, bread and eggs, omelette or porridge. I try not to eat a lot in the mornings because if I do, I will stay full and that makes it harder for me to eat a pre-match meal in the afternoon. I have learned in my career, you have to find out what’s the best way for you personally to prepare for a game – and I realised it was better for me to have a small breakfast and then eat in the afternoon, a few hours before the game instead of a lot in the morning and not much in the afternoon. It’s about having energy. In the afternoon, we will have pasta, rice, chicken, salads, fruit… again, you can choose what you want.

“I am always feeling relaxed on the day of a game…”

I am going to play a game and I am going to try and enjoy it. I think it’s just my personality; I want to enjoy the game and make the best of it. I’ve always been that way. I don’t get nervous about matches – in fact, I have more nerves about games involving my former clubs! A few weeks ago, two of my old teams played against each other – Feyenoord and PSV – and I had more nerves for that game than our game that weekend. I don’t know why… they’re just two of my old teams and I support them.

“As soon as I go into the dressing room on matchday, my phone goes into flight mode…”

I still want to listen to my music, but I don’t want to use WhatsApp or look at Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter because I am fully focused on the match. All that stuff is only for well after the game!

“The atmosphere is good in the dressing room before a game…”

Really good. Everyone is busy with making himself ready for the game. A few guys will go to the treatment room, a few guys will do exercises in order for their body to be ready for the game, but otherwise the players will just sit in their place and listen to music and so on. I like to have a massage for games to get myself ready.

“The routines for home and away games for the team are quite the same...”

Again, everyone has their own routine for preparing initially. For an away game, we’ll train the day before and then travel to the hotel that night. The following morning, we will do a walk before the game and then after that we’ll travel to the stadium. In that time, everyone will have their own things that they’ll do.

“When we’re lined up in the tunnel, I’m not really thinking anything other than ‘We’re about to play a game’...”

But when we’re at home and you hear ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, that’s still something that’s really good to hear. I am always happy when I hear it – it still gives me goosebumps. It’s different playing here as a Liverpool player, knowing they’re all on your side. The fans have been amazing this season, supporting the team even during the bad period we had. It gives you a great feeling.