payulSpanish striker Carles Puyol has a keen interest in Tibetan Buddhism, according to phayul.com. The soccer star, who plays for Barcelona, met the Dalai Lama when His Holiness visited that city. With Spain’s World Cup victory yesterday, we can expect Puyol to be in the news in coming weeks, and no doubt we’ll learn more. Puyol’s friend Ven. Wangchen told the Voice of America that “Puyol’s interest in Tibetan culture and Buddhism started after reading Sogyal Rinpoche’s book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which helped him deal with death of a family member.” Wangchen adds that Puyol “has a Tibetan tattoo on his left arm which reads ‘Power is inside the Mind. The strong can endure.’”

After nearly 2 hours of play on Sunday, it seems his tattoo held him in good stead.