With the World Cup starting up next week, a question on the minds of the 32 coaches is: Do you let your players have sex? Mexico has said no; the U.S. yes and Brazil is OK with "normal" sex.
Research done on this shows that sex the night before a sports event should not be an issue:
A 1995 study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness said performance on a treadmill test was unaffected by whether the participant had coitus 12 hours before. Experts agree that lovemaking isn't too strenuous for otherwise healthy people. A University of Montreal study in 2013 found men burned about 100 calories on average – or about the equivalent of 20 minutes of yard work.
Mexican coach Miguel Herrera is in the no-sex camp, though how it's enforced is anybody's guess:
"If a player can't go one month or 20 days without having sexual relations, then they are not prepared to be a professional player. All the players we have selected have a pretty good resume, they all have won great things, they have been champions and obviously, they know what they want to achieve."U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann has no problem with his players doing it:
"We are very casual in the way we approach things. Their families can come pretty much any time, they will be at the games, they can come to the hotel and we can have barbecues together. I think every nation is different.
"I played in different countries where you didn't see your girlfriend or your wife for two months. That was more the Italian background when I played in Italy. Every team and every country handles that differently based on their culture. So I respect the Mexican approach because it is their culture."
Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has a yes-but approach:
"The players can have normal sex during the World Cup. Usually normal sex is done in a balanced way but some like to perform acrobatics. We will put limits and survey the players."
I would love to see that survey! Of course, the best solution would be two gay players in a relationship rooming together since the coach can always be assured they'll make bed check.
