The World Cup, to be hosted by an African nation – South Africa – for the first time ever, begins this Friday. And every team is training in the last few days to get into peak form (on that note, many star players have opted out due to injuries) and coaches are closely watching their players to make sure that any field problems are dealt with now.
Part of that coach advice is refraining from sex during the competition. Sex, many coaches believes, is a distraction and undermines the drive of their prayers since its exhausts them. Conversely, the abstinence from sex can embed a strong drive on the field by making a player more aggression due to sexual frustration which he then takes out on the field and the opposing team. It leads to a build-up with football, or soccer, being the outlet.
In that effort, the British national team (which recently dropped captain John Terry and replaced him with Rio Ferdinand after Terry had sex with the former girlfriend of a teammate) is banning sex during the tournament and is even instituting a surveillance network and encourage teammates to spy on one another in order to discourage any sex.
The hosting nation itself recently failed to include in its line-up star player Benni McCarthy and goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez after the two were found to have brought back women to their hotel rooms. Lack of discipline was the official reason.
But Brazil – which has won more World Cup titles than any other nation – disagrees and says sex is the key to victory:
Brazilian World Cup winner, Branco, has said sex and alcohol were both important in Brazil winning the 1994 Word Cup.
The full-back, a member of the 1994 winning Brazilian team, believes they are beneficial for all players in preparation for the World Cup.
“What harm is there in it?” said Branco. “My son Stefano was conceived during the 1994 World Cup when I spent a day off in San Francisco with my wife.
“Sex is good for you. It relieves tension. We hadn’t won the World Cup for 24 years so it didn’t do us any harm.
“Sex at the camp should only be ruled out with a team-mate’s wife. What you can’t do is stuff your face until four in the morning or stay in a brothel.
“We were very professional when we won the World Cup in ’94. We went there to win it. Drinking was allowed and we’d have three or four drinks to relax. What’s wrong with that?
“If it were a problem, then there wouldn’t be any football in England or Germany, where they drink beer, or in Italy, France and Argentina where they drink wine. It’s part of the culture.
“There was drink in ’94, I conceived my son and everyone said we were perfect physically and tactically.”
Is anybody going to doubt the seriousness and credibility of these Brazilians? They would know. No wonder they’ve won so many. And now Argentina is following suit, somewhat:
Soccer and sex are just fine for the World Cup.
That’s the word from Argentina’s team doctor who says players can have sex with their regular partners during the monthlong tournament in South Africa.
Dr. Donato Vallani said sex was a part of life.
“The players can have sex with their wives and girlfriends during the World Cup,” he said on Radio Del Plata. “Players are not Martians.”
“But,” he added, “it should not be at 2 a.m. with champagne and Havana cigars.”
