Hector Bellerin Wins the FA Cup With Arsenal, His Third

Vegan wing-back Hector Bellerin has won the FA Cup for the third time. He started at right wing-back as Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday, August 1, match records show.

The final was played behind closed doors after being pushed back from May by the pandemic. Christian Pulisic gave Chelsea a fifth-minute lead, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalized from the penalty spot after 28 minutes and scored the winner on 67 minutes. Chelsea finished with 10 men after Mateo Kovačić was sent off. It is Arsenal's 14th FA Cup, a record.

Bellerin was the one change from Arsenal's last league game, coming in for Joe Willock. He also started the 2015 final against Aston Villa and won again against Chelsea in 2017, Wikipedia records. This one means a lot after the long injury that kept him out until last September.

He went vegan at the start of the 2017-18 season. He meant to try it for a couple of weeks, but felt so good he stuck with it, he told The Players' Tribune, as quoted by Goal:

For me the most important thing is that inflammation in my body after games and the speed that my body recovers compared to before. I've always had little problems in my ankles when I played very hard games, they'd get very inflamed and stiff. Now I don't even have to strap them to play anymore.

He also wakes up with more energy. Before, he was the kind of person who would "snooze the alarm five times" before getting out of bed.

Bellerin is one of a growing group of vegan footballers. Last November Chris Smalling became the first Englishman since Beckham to score twice in a Serie A season, two years after he went fully vegan. Meanwhile vegan club Forest Green Rovers became the first certified climate neutral by the UN.

Three FA Cups and no meat on his plate. Powered by plants.