It’s been a historical year for FC Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira. The 21-year-old star recently took home the FC Dallas Offensive Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year award. Those team awards came after he received 2022 MLS Young Player of the Year honors and receiving the No. 1 ranking in MLSsoccer.com’s 2022 22 Under 22.
He’ll look forward to carrying that momentum into the World Cup when the U.S. opener against Wales next Monday. For our readers that don’t know the importance the World Cup carries, Jesus Ferreira put the value of the tournament in very simple terms.
“I think any player or kid that plays soccer, their dream is to play in a World Cup one day, and to represent their country,” Ferreira said. “That’s an opportunity that we have this year. I think the World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments that exists in our time, and it’s something that a lot of people watch.”
Muscle and Fitness spoke with Jesus Ferreira on the key preparation for him ahead of the World Cup, bouncing back from a one goal and one assist season in 2020, how his partnership with Cheribundi makes life easier and the other changes he’s made to be at his best on the pitch.
Courtesy of Jesus Ferreira
It’s All Mental For Jesus Ferreira
It’s more of preparing yourself mentally about what’s next. The World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments and everyone needs to be focused 100 percent to be able to perform at the highest level. It’s just mentally preparing yourself because it’s going to be tough. Each team in the World Cup is there for a reason. They’re there because they’re good enough to be in the World Cup. It doesn’t matter the name or the players, it’s how the teams are going to perform. For us, obviously, the US is a young team. But with a lot of energy and hunger to win things. We’re ready to play any game against anybody to show we belong in the World Cup, and we can compete against anyone.
Obviously, there’s comments, posts all over social media. For me, it’s knowing that the most important thing is the coaches and the people around me. Their opinions are the ones that matter, and that’s how I kind of go about staying focused. Whatever the coach has to tell me, that’s what I’m going to work on. If I have to do something different, that’s what I’ll do. Otherwise, I’ll keep doing what I know how to do and keep playing soccer the way I know how to and continue performing.
Jesus Ferreira Bounces Back From a Tough Year
It was a tough year for me, but I knew that I couldn’t allow that year to repeat itself. I wanted to be a player that could bounce back and perform at the level that I knew that I could perform at. That was scoring goals, getting assists, and helping the team win. I had to change things. I’ve changed diet, getting someone that helps me mentally, and just little things to help my game in the long run. I’m just excited that I can show that I can be a guy that can bounce back from any situation. Having one goal, one assists the whole year and being able to improve that to eight assists the next year is crazy. I’m just happy to show that I can be a player that can take things, learn from them, move on and not dwell and keep getting better.
Courtesy of Jesus Ferreira
The Power of Tart Cherry Juice
This year has been an important one in my career. I think making a lot of changes to the way I’m eating to getting a guy that helps me mentally — they’re all important to my success. I needed something that would help me in my recovery. With partnering up with Cheribundi, it was a product I used for a long time. I’m just excited to be able to be the latest partner, be able to use the product, and show it off. Obviously, for me, the main thing is being able to recover while I sleep. Sleep is the biggest thing, so I use their sleeping package the most, and it’s just exciting that there’s a product out there that can help me be the best player that I can.
It gives me what I need to recover and what I need to take care of my body. Knowing that there is a big year ahead, there’s important things that I want to accomplish, chase, and be able to achieve. They came into play and helped me with that. Obviously, no one wants to get injured, and they help prevent that. I’m just happy that I can partner with a company that can help me with everything I need off the field and make it easy for me. I have a little packet that I can carry with me everywhere. It makes it easy to carry with me and take them anywhere I’m going.
As a soccer player, after the games, you always have that energy and it’s hard to sleep. What Cheribundi does for me is key for my recovery and to be able to come back next week and perform. The package gives me 90 more minutes of sleep and it helps me in every way. I’m just excited that I can trust and have something at home that will help me recover and help me be a better player each day that I wake up.
Jesus Ferreira Is Properly Fueled at the Right Time
Getting a chef that can help me manage the portions, seeing how I can gain or lose weight, seeing if I need iron or anything else — that’s helped me a ton. There are somethings I don’t like to eat and that’s where he comes into play and helps me see what’s another option for that. If it’s a vegetable or some other protein, he’ll research that and provide it for me. I’m happy that I can count on someone who can help me perform at the highest level.
I haven’t really eliminated anything crazy. I think one of the toughest things that I have to do now is making sure that I eat at the right times. I learned that timing is key to gaining weight or whatever it is you’re pursuing. I didn’t know that you had to eat at certain times or eat a certain portion at this time to be able to perform and gain weight in my case. I kind of noticed that timing is key to everything.
As a soccer player, we burn a lot of energy. I just need to make sure that I can have the best meals and have my body in the right condition to perform. There are exercises where I make sure that I’m mentally focused on what the next few weeks has for me and stay on top of that.
Ferreira’s dad David was a former professional player and his teachings to Jesus during his youth still are embedded with him today.
Going out there and playing every game like it’s the last one. Obviously, he was doing the dad role of get better, and you have to eat your greens. That’s something I’m learning now. I have to know what I put into my body and what is going to benefit me. But I think the biggest thing is to go out there and play like it’s your last. It’s making sure I give everything to the game and give my all to the team. That’s the most important thing because energy is contagious. I want to be a player that can always bring that energy and have the team feed off of that and perform highly as a team.
