India, July 11 -- Lucky socks and tunnel rituals aren't for everyone. For Argentina's striker Lionel Messi, the constant is yerba mate, the traditional South American herbal tea he has consumed since childhood. "It is part of my life. I can't imagine a morning without it," he said in a 2015 interview with FourFourTwo. The mate gourd and bombilla are regular fixtures at training grounds, stadium tunnels and team flights. Messi is also known to favour the Uruguayan brand Canarias, drinking it from custom silver-plated gourds made by Uruguayan silversmith Rodolfo Lugo.

This Norway striker's pre-match reset is meditation. He has shared videos of himself sitting cross-legged in the middle of a river in the same pose as his trademark goal cele...