2019-08-01_Men_s_Health_South_Africa

You certainly haven’t been slouching on

your upper body. Why is that?

You need to keep it even. You can’t just

have massive legs and a tiny upper body,

as you’d always get injured. Also, I went

through a period when I felt like I needed to

get a bit stronger, to be able to do what I want

to do on the pitch – to hold people off, be

more explosive when I’m running.

What are you trying to improve now?

I’m trying to strengthen my legs. I’ve

started to shoot a lot more, and you have

to mix technique with strength to do that.

Some players – like the Man City goalkeeper,

Ederson – are just blessed with the ability

to smack a ball the whole length of the pitch

without a real run-up. I’d have to run far before

I could smash it like that! Cristiano Ronaldo

will score and just point at his massive thigh.

That’s something I’m working on.

Is it disruptive when a new manager

comes in with new training methods?

Yeah, because all the coaching teams do

things in different ways. But the pitch isn't

the only place you can improve. I’ve made

a gym in my garage, so if I want to do extra

weights, I just go there. In football, people

change all the time, so you need to keep on

top of things yourself.

Is that psychologically difficult?

Yeah, but that’s the thing with football:

you have to be mentally strong. Football is

90% mentality and 10% physicality. When

you’re on the pitch, you’re doing what you

love; but it’s totally different when you have

30 000 people watching, screaming, and

you’ve got to perform at that exact moment.

You have to calm yourself down. It’s hard,

but you live and you learn.

When a new Fifa game comes out, do

you look at the stats they’ve given you?

Yeah, 100%. I’ll see my stats and think,

“Come on!” Right now, I’m 82 or

something. The stuff I do throughout the

season – dribbles, speed, this and that –

and then I’m 82? No way, man, I’m not

having that! If I was at a “bigger” team

than Crystal Palace, my stats would be way

better than this. But I’ll accept it.

ZAHA BUILT A GYM

AT HOME TO KEEP HIS

TRAINING ON TARGET.

WILFRIED

ZAHA

FOOTBALLER, PALACE HERO

AGED 26 | 180CM | 66KG