Score!

Berti Vogts banned his players from doing it at the 1994 World Cup. Glenn Hoddle had his players on lock-down at France 98. What did those teams win? Nothing. What were they starved of? Match-winning sex, so it would seem.

According to recent studies, scoring the night before a game can be the perfect pre-game preparation.

“Sex helps you feel relaxed and sexually, mentally and physically satisfied,” says Juan Carlos Medina, head of medical services at Mexico’s Club Universidad Nacional Pumas. “This contributes to reducing anxiety levels before a game.”

For years players have taken a vow of celibacy before competition believing sex sapped focus, energy and aggression.

But Medina and his colleagues found that not only can coitus raise testosterone, it can relieve pressure and ease mental strain ahead of sporting competition.

Just ask the King of Football. “Even Pele confessed that he never suspended sexual encounters before a game,” says Medina.

So there you have it – three World Cups and 1281 goals, all thanks to a bit of ‘how’s your father’.