How sex has influenced team performances at World Cup

Discipline, talent, preparation, focus, form, freedom from injury, and luck of the draw are some of the factors that guarantee success in a major sporting event like the World Cup. But sex plays a role, too – the action, not the thought, as former New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel once said: “It’s not the sex that wrecks these guys; it’s staying up all night looking for it.”

Research has shown that all countries that banned their players from having sex at the 2014 World Cup have been eliminated, while those with a more relaxed view on the matter are enjoying better results on the pitch.

Joachim Low and Louis van Gaal allow wives and girlfriends to stay in team hotels and both Germany and the Netherlands have navigated their way safely into the quarter-finals of the tournament. And they remain hot-favourites, with host Brazil, to win the cup.

The French naturally see no qualms in sex and it shows in their game.

Brazil and Costa Rica, who have more complicated rules regarding sex but still allow it, remain active in the competition as do Argentina, Belgium and Colombia whose preference isn’t recorded.

Stephen Keshi is happy to let his players spend intimate time with loved ones as well as the managers of the United States, Switzerland and Uruguay, all of whom made it into the last 16.

Of the sides that banned sex – Spain, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile and Mexico – none made it past the last 16.

“There will be no sex in Brazil,” Safet Susic, the coach of Bosnia-Herzegovina had announced to reporters before the tournament.

“I am not interested in what the other coaches do. This is not a holiday trip; we are there to play football at the World Cup.”

His team did not go beyond the group stage and star striker Edin Dzeko could only score a goal in three games. Perhaps this could be attributed to time spent away from his girlfriend, Amra Silajdzic.

Engaging in sex may be the reason 2014 Cinderella team, Costa Rica, are on a roller-coaster ride in Brazil. Their manger, Jorge Luis Pinto, is happy for his players to engage in sexual activity as long as they are winning on the pitch.

“I can assure, with no doubts, they will be able to ‘enjoy themselves’ just as soon as they qualify for the next round.”

The jury is still out on the impact of sex on performance. Before now, it was believed that sex has a detrimental effect on an athlete’s performance, distracting them or exhausting them before a big match but more recent research showed that this was not the case with scientists claiming there is no physiological evidence to suggest this.

“It’s often talked about (whether sex makes people worse or better at sports), but it has not been shown to be true,” says sports medicine physician Jordan Metzel.

“There are lots of factors that could account for how a player performs.”

Roy Hodgson was not too sure what to believe so he had a relaxed policy and gave his players limited time with loved ones, but England failed to climax and left the tournament at the group stage.

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has shown interest in the matter more than most managers. He says he encourages sex, but “not the acrobatic variant”.

“The players can have normal sex during the World Cup,” the 2002 World Cup-winning coach said.

“Usually, normal sex is done in balanced way, but there are certain forms, certain ways and others who do acrobatics. We will put limits and survey the players.”

The quarter finals start tomorrow, and it is not by accident that all eight teams remaining are favourably disposed to sex and the Selecao top the league. Champions Brazil?

Time will tell…