It’s fair to say many of the world’s top footballers don’t get much downtime. They put in the hard yards on the training pitch and then must endure countless off-field activities to appease sponsors and their clubs. But when they get a moment, what do they enjoy?

Many of the world’s top strikers, but active and retired have enjoyed some unusual hobbies down the years to kick back and relax. Below you’ll find some of the more unexpected…

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is the epitome of cool. He’s one of the greatest of all time and has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it was during his time at Manchester United where discovered his love of bingo. That’s right, the Portuguese legend loves a game of bingo, and he’s not the only one.

The game has risen astronomically over the past few years with fantastic new games and a rise in payment methods encouraging sign-ups including the likes of Bitcoin, Apple Pay and PayPal bingo is another payment method which is really thriving with new players.

For Cristiano, he took up the game to help improve his English, and we’d have loved nothing more than him Patrice Evra and Giggsy sneak off for a game after a win at Old Trafford.

Teddy Sheringham

Teddy Sheringham is another Manchester United legend who enjoys a gamble, but his time in the form of poker. Sheringham played into his 40s and was part of United’s 1999 treble winning side, and off the field he’s just as successful.

He’s won big money in poker tournaments, mixing it with the professionals and becoming a top player in his own right. His striker’s instinct has seemingly rubbed off and you’ll often find him enjoying both online and offline tournaments these days. 

Andrey Arshavin

Football and fashion have always gone hand in hand, with the likes of Hector Bellerin and Marcus Rashford the faces of fashion houses today, the latter of which being Burberry’s top model. But former Arsenal striker Andrey Arshavin has taken it a step further.

The Russian star studied fashion design at university in St Petersburg and actually now owns his own women’s fashion line in his homeland, and it’s incredibly popular by all accounts. 

Gabriel Batistuta

Gabriel Batistuta is a legend of the game, spending over a decade playing in Serie A with the likes of Fiorentina, Roma, and Inter Milan, while he netted a staggering 54 goals in just 77 games for Argentina.

He also dabbles in another sport too, polo. In fact, he’s played polo competitively, lifting the Copa Stella Artois trophy back in 2009 with the Tom Tailor team. However, he was less of a success, and despite scoring two goals on his debut he wasn’t best pleased with his overall performance.

He went on to own his own polo side and also has a farming business. His team, La Gloria play in purple in a nod to the great Fiorentina side he spent many years leading the line for.