Professional athletes don't get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focus—and that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what pro athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Here's a look at the daily diet of 2014 World Cup breakout star DeAndre Yedlin.

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, you probably noticed something new in America. Suddenly, it seemed like we caught up with the rest of the world in giving a shit about soccer. The U.S. men’s national team exceeded most people’s expectations, making it out of the “group of death” though not much farther past that.

One of the young standouts on the team was DeAndre Yedlin, who has since left the Seattle Sounders FC and signed a four-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur in England. Currently he’s on loan to Sunderland A.F.C., It’s a huge opportunity for an American player to get intense experience, though it required Yedlin to leave his native Seattle.

“Obviously it gets easier and easier as the time goes, so I’m pretty used to it now. Seattle is the place where you can really find any kind of food, especially Japanese food. I have the best teriyaki whenever I go back. Otherwise it isn’t too different from Seattle.”

For Americans used to thinking about professional sports as seasonal, like basketball and football, the schedule for soccer players may sound insane.

“There’s obviously the club team, and that’s the team I play for in England, and there’s the international team, the U.S. team. My club season goes from July through May, and there’s not really a season for international, there are just camps throughout the year. Then next summer there’s the Olympics, and there’s the Copa America that runs through the whole summer. You could just wind up playing year round. It can be a lot, but it’s not a super long career, so you want to get as much as you can in.”

“I won’t eat past when I’m full. I think that’s the problem somepeople have, they like a dish so much that they’ll eat until it’scompletely gone and feel sick after. Me, if I feel full, ready,comfortable, I’ll stop.”

Short career notwithstanding, Yedlin is in a good position for a 22 year old. Right now he’s in St. Louis preparing for qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup. His youth also means that he doesn’t need to worry too much about having a rigid diet . . . yet. Yedlin is pretty disposed toward eating healthy, and he’s not quite at the age where your metabolism turns on you.

“I try not to snack, but my family, we’re all big snackers. So I try to keep healthy snacks around, like Nutri-Grain bars, pistachios, that sort of thing. But you’re always going to cheat a little bit.”

His family’s habits influenced more than just his snacking. Growing up, Yedlin’s family wasn’t big on cooking, and he’s pretty averse to dealing with kitchen messes, so he’s often at restaurants or getting takeout.

“There’s nothing that I really get sick of because I vary my food a lot and I eat out a lot. There are times when you’re in camp when it can get a little bit repetitive, but for the most part it’s not too bad. For me, I can’t eat healthy 100 percent of the year. There’s obviously those little times where you have to eat something that’s not great for you, but you just need comfort food.”

His comfort food of choice is chicken korma, an Indian dish heavy on cream, nuts, and spices. Obviously, it’s a sometimes-food. But Yedlin shows some pretty remarkable self-control when it comes to eating.

“I won’t eat past when I’m full. I think that’s the problem some people have, they like a dish so much that they’ll eat until it’s completely gone and feel sick after. Me, if I feel full, ready, comfortable, I’ll stop.”

BreakfastButtered toast, eggs, bacon

LunchSalmon with rice and pesto, salad, mineral water

SnacksNutri-Grain barsPistachios

DinnerChicken korma with garlic naan

Luke Darby is a contributor to GQ, covering news, entertainment, and the environment. A Louisiana native, he now resides in Cleveland, and his writing has also appeared in Outside, the Dallas Observer, and Marie Claire.Related Stories for GQWorld CupSoccer