UrbanUpdate

Jozy Altidore’s name has been synonymous with American soccer for a decade-plus, so it might come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that he is still only 27-years old. Twelve years of competing in La Liga, the Premier League, the Eredivisie, Süper Lig, and MLS, though? That will put some mileage on a body. So we sat down with the Toronto FC forward to learn the secrets to sustaining a professional career, plus the best Turkish dish for your cheat days and how he stays motivated with a new generation of American soccer stars nipping at his heels.

GQ: I have to admit, I was a little shocked when I realized before interviewing you that you’re only 27 years old. I’ve been watching you play professionally since I was in high school!

Jozy Altidore: Yeah, 12 years, man. It’s my twelfth season.

So in terms of diet, how key is that for you in order to have that type of longevity?

It’s important. You always hear people talk about it: What to eat and what not to eat. To be honest, though, I’ve never had to be really conscious of it. I come from a Haitian background. My parents are Haitian and Dominican background, and so I always ate fresh seafood. I grew up eating pretty well, so I’ve never had to focus in too much on it.

Yeah, it’s a lot easier when you grew up eating healthier foods as opposed to hitting the drive-through or chowing down on snacks. It’s just ingrained into you.

Definitely. And the past few years I’ve focused a little bit more and more on it.

You’re a pretty big guy, too. By that I mean tall and muscular. With you playing up in Toronto now, one of my favorite things is seeing you and Sebastian Giovinco celebrating goals, because the size difference between the two of you is hilarious. Now, he’s a pretty small dude, but it made me realize just how big you are compared to a lot of other players. Has that been part of your focus with your diet these past few years? To keep that size?

I’ve definitely started to lift more—more to maintain, not really to gain bulk or anything like that. I still want to keep my mobility. You don’t want to be too big because then simple movements become difficult and you strain other parts of your body. But I definitely do try to maintain my figure and keep strong with what makes me a dangerous player. You know, being able to shield defenders, being able to go into battles and win them.

With the diet, it’s just trying to eat green. You want to be lean, you got to eat green. That’s the motto the trainers and I came up with in Toronto. Towards the second half of the season, I always start to eat even more green, just because the season… You get to the point in the season when your body’s a bit worn down and you’re getting a bit more tired. All the games, the wear and tear starts to get at you, so anything I can do to help myself become even more agile and get a little bit of an edge I do. Playing the MLS is a challenge. You have to travel five, six hours. There’s a lot of tough stretches. Like, we’re going to have something like six games in 14 days.

"You want to be lean, you got to eat green. That’s the motto the trainers and I came up with in Toronto."

That’s actually something I wasn’t even thinking about beforehand, but just in terms of the traveling when you’re playing in the MLS compared to the Premier League or somewhere else in Europe. The travel aspect has to be even more of a demand on your body.

Yeah, traveling in England was easy. Everything was a 45-minute flight. This week is okay; we travel 40 minutes to Montreal. But then next weekend we are flying to Dallas, which is four hours. Then from Dallas we’ve got to go to Orlando. I’m not complaining about it. It is what it is. You know what you sign up for, but it just becomes all the more important about what you put in your body and the rest that you’re getting. You lose a little bit when you have to make those trips, right? You land and it’s almost like you played a little game. I mean, your body is going to be sore. Sometimes, in cases, you’re going to be dehydrated. So there’s a lot of challenges in it that a lot of people don’t really know about that make away games and playing on the road so much tougher in MLS.

Especially for you guys up in Toronto. I mean, Toronto is an amazing city, but in terms of the travel, aside from the north-east…

Exactly. Aside from the stadium teams—New York, DC, and Boston, every trip is a pretty lengthy trip. Like I said before, you have to make sure that you’re eating right and taking care of yourself.

Do you have any little life hacks for when you’re facing one of those long flights?

Nothing too fancy. Most of the time me and a few of the guys will do yoga, just to loosen up and make sure that we stretch out areas that you typically don’t stretch. I don’t necessarily eat different, I just make sure I’m hydrated even more. To the point where I have to piss every 20 minutes. Being on a plane, it’s dangerous. If you don’t get the right hydration in, and you’re going to play a game the next night, you could be in a lot of trouble. It’s not like the NBA when we’re traveling on these big, big airplanes, so you have to make sure that every little thing counts.

I was going to say, I’ve started trying to make sure I get in at least a gallon to a gallon and a half of water, especially if I am hopping on a flight somewhere. I always feel bad for the person sitting next to me because I have to get up and pee about four times throughout the flight, but it’s the only way I feel good the next day.

I always request an aisle seat. That way when I’m in and out I don’t bother the person next to me and I can still keep my routine. After playing in the league a while, you start to learn what works.

Never get that window seat.

Yeah, that window seat doesn’t work at all for me.

You mentioned playing in England. You’ve also spent time over in Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands. What country had your favorite food?

I love Spain. I enjoyed Spain so much. Just with it always being so fresh and living by the beach and getting fresh fish was so amazing. I took that for granted. I didn’t know how good I had it when I was there. And I actually really enjoyed Turkey. The food there was really, really good. You know, a lot of different spices, a lot of different tastes. Holland was good, as well. I mean, I can’t complain, man. Everywhere I’ve been—the worst was probably England. You can only eat fish and chips so many times, you know?

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England has that reputation. Are there any specific meals you’ve taken from your time in Turkey or Spain that you still incorporate into your diet today?

I still cheat every now and again on Iskender, which is a Turkish dish. I wouldn’t think it’s the best thing to eat for your diet, but sometimes on an off day I will reward myself and go eat some at a Turkish restaurant in Toronto?

Okay, so what is Iskender?

It’s beef on top of buttered bread. It’s delicious, and the bread is baked all together and then you roll the beef on top and you eat it with special sauce or cream. I loved it so much that I’ve kept eating it ever since.

For your day-to-day diet, when you’re just training up in Toronto, what does that typically look like?

So I wake up in the morning at eight o’clock and I have breakfast by nine. Breakfast will be some toast, oatmeal, probably some granola with yogurt, and then water. Nothing too special. I’ll mix some scrambled eggs in every now and again, just to have some variety. But I stick to that every day and it gives me a balance of everything I need to start the day and have a good, energetic training session. As the day goes on—so my biggest meal is probably lunch. After practice is when I get everything in that I lost during training, and that’ll be my biggest meal where I focus in more on getting some proteins and carbs. And then dinner is fairly light. Maybe some type of fish or a salad, and then a type of fruit salad for dessert.

You’re coming off of another big match with the USMNT against Mexico at the Azteca. That is such a massive rivalry. Is there anything you do a differently beforehand or maybe even afterwards when you’re down there?

This is the second time in a row that I have gone down there and got a good result, and both times I had authentic Mexican tacos. That’s my way of celebrating a good, hard-earned point and a good team performance.

That might have to become your new tradition now.

Yeah, they’re really good. I really enjoy the tacos. They’re delicious.

With the national team specifically, we’re starting to see an influx of fresh faces and new players. You know, Christian Pulisic is obviously the big name that comes to mind. How much do those kids coming up now push you to have to keep that competitive edge, whether it’s through diet or training? Is that something where it’s actually good for your career because you have these new, young kids who are hungry and pushing you guys to the limits?

Oh, for sure. A guy like Christian, he’s young, he’s energetic. He’s pushing everybody to want to play a little bit longer and to make sure we make ourselves a little bit better because you want to be playing with those guys. They make our team better. They’re the players that the country is excited to have, and they’re the guys that are helping raise the profile and help our team improve. I mean, there’s nothing really crazy I’d change, but it’s just when you see them and you see how good they are, and how good they could become, it makes you want to stay at that level all the much longer. You want to be a part of the future and the good things that are still to come.

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