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When host South
Africa takes to the field against Mexico on June 11 at the Soccer City
Stadium, it will be the 708th game in the FIFA World Cup’s history.

A momentous
occasion it will be not only for the South Africans but the whole of
Africa as the biggest football show on earth is finally taking place in
Africa eighty years after the first edition held in Uruguay.

For Danny Jordaan,
CEO of the Local Organising Committee of the World Cup, it will be
mission accomplished after four years of painstaking planning and
organising. Four years during which Western media sustained pressure,
through fiercely critical reports, on FIFA to rethink its decision to
hand South Africa hosting rights of the tournament.

The battle has
indeed been fierce. From security concerns raised by the media in the
West, which has created fear in the minds of tourists in that part of
the world, the gang-up against the Vuvuzela, which was only resolved
last week after Jordaan assured that the decibel levels are not such as
would make it difficult for team benches to communicate with their
players, the organising committee faced immense challenges.

Jordaan and the
South African government can justifiably feel proud of their
accomplishment. The $4.6 billion reportedly spent on hosting the
tournament, including costs of building and renovating ten world-class
stadia, have clearly not been in vain.

The 32 teams are
now in town and the party is about to begin. Africa will be on fire for
the next one month. In South Africa, Nigeria and elsewhere on the
continent, people will talk about nothing other than football.

Festival of football

Indeed, it will be
a festival of football as the best players on the continent converge on
African soil to titillate football fans with their vast array of
football skills.

Never has Africa
been host to such deluge of football talent and it may be a very long
while before such constellation is seen here again. Cristiano Ronaldo,
Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney, Kaka, Franck Ribery and Ji-Sung Park are
some of the foreign talent that will set Africa at the Mundial. So also
will our African brigade of Didier Drogba, Osaze Odemwingie, Samuel
Eto’o, Rafik Saifi and Kwadwo Asamoah.

Our own Super
Eagles, long derided by their countrymen for their listless performance
under former coach, Shuaibu Amodu, seem to be sputtering into life
under new coach, Lars Lagerback. In the two friendly matches they
played last week under the direction of the Swede, Nigerians got to see
the Eagles coming together gradually as a unit. Tonight’s game against
North Korea, presents Lagerback another opportunity to firm up his
strategies for the tournament. With the Eagles’ final squad known, the
Nigerian coach can now turn his attention to sorting out those minor
details, which have a way of unhinging even the most carefully thought
out plans if unchecked.

In the case of the
Eagles, the defence is a key sticking point. With the reliable
Onyekachi Apam failing to make the cut through injury, Lagerback is
working round the clock to ensure that he melds the defence, which
includes Rabiu Afolabi returning to the squad since his stint with the
team in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan; a match rusty Danny Shittu,
who sat out the entire season on the bench at Bolton and Joseph Yobo
who did not enjoy enough playing time in his club, Everton, into a
tight unit.

The African challenge

The Swede is a wily
tactician and has been sounding confident about his squad’s chances at
the tournament. Upon the Eagles’ arrival in Durban on Wednesday,
Lagerback told reporters: “We have a very tough group, the quality of
the opposition is very good, and what I know is that all the teams want
to win. The Super Eagles are ready to take on the world’s best. We know
there are high expectations, especially from our fans. If we give our
100 per cent, we can beat any team. But I am happy with everything so
far.”

Lagerback’s
confidence notwithstanding, the Eagles have their work clearly cut out.
Their progress in the tournament clearly would ride on the outcome of
their opening game against Argentina on June 12. The South Americans
have a formidable squad and are among favourites for the title. To get
past or even to survive them, the Eagles have to be at their best,
something Lagerback is hoping to achieve.

Aside the Eagles,
Africa’s other teams are hoping to make a statement, none more than
hosts, South Africa. The Alberto Parreir-coached squad, which went on a
training tour of Brazil and Germany, returned confident of their
chances in the tournament. The team’s Brazilian coach returned to South
Africa in a dilemma after home-based players in his team improved
massively during the training tour.

Despite their new
found form, pundits are not expecting them to go through in their
group, which includes two former world champions, Uruguay and France as
well as Mexico. However, given their performance at the Confederation
Cup, which they hosted last year, it may just be a mistake to write
them off.

Africa’s other
gladiators, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Algeria, and Ghana, are also not going to
the mundial to make up the numbers. The Didier Drogba-led Ivorians, who
exited in the first round at the last edition of the World Cup in
Germany despite boasting what was considered a decent squad, are eager
to make a statement this time round.

Ghana’s chances of
making it out of their group appear very slim given the absence of key
players like Laryea Kingston and the inimitable Michael Essien, who was
finally ruled out following his failure to recover from a knee injury
which hit since January this year.

Algeria, lumped
with England, USA and Slovenia face an uphill task in that group. On
the surface, the North African side will find it difficult to break out
of this group; however, the Algerians are nobody’s fools and on a good
day can mess up things for even the most technically balanced side.
Their major weakness seems to be getting them to rein in their
exuberance. Here, coach Rabah Saadane, has serious work to do.

Powerhouses weigh in

On the whole, it
promises to be an exciting tournament with traditional power
houses-Brazil, Germany and Italy expected to be threats to their
opponents. The Brazilian squad is, as usual, oozing class. Such is the
quality of the team that t wo-time World Footballer of the year,
Ronaldinho, failed to get a look in from Dunga despite switching over
to Milan to resurrect a flagging career.

The German team,
including exciting young forwards like Lucas Podolski, Bastian
Scheinsteinger and Toni Kroos and the experienced Miroslav Klose, will
give their group opponents, Ghana, Serbia and Australia, enough to chew.

When the new Adidas
World Cup ball was unveiled at the World Cup draws on December 4 2009
in South Africa, there was a lot of excitement about the technological
innovations that had gone into its production and how it promises to be
a good grip for goalkeepers.

“According to the
rigorous FIFA specification range for footballs, we have created a ball
that is small and heavy allowing for maximum accuracy, perfect grip and
exceptionally stable flight,” Thomas Van Schaik, the Adidas Head of
Global Public Relations, had said with pride after the ball was
unveiled.

But Jabulani, the
ball’s name which means “to celebrate” or “be happy” in Zulu Language,
is leaving World Cup-bound goalies lamenting in frustration following
their nightmarish experience with the round object as preparations for
the 32 countries hit final stages with the kick off in Johannesburg
barely five days to go.

Spain captain and
number one goalkeeper, Ike Casillas disagreed with adidas’ claims as he
described the South Africa 2010 official ball as rather suited for a
beach football good enough probably on the Copacabana sand in Rio de
Janeiro.

“It’s sad that a
competition as important as a World Cup has an element as vital as the
ball with such abysmal characteristics”, Casillas said after his side
defeated Saudi Arabia 3-2 in pre- World Cup friendly last week.

Italy’s Gianluigi
Buffon has also expressed disappointment over the make-up of the World
Cup ball just as Brazil’s Julio Cesar, who gave a more disparaging
assessment after claiming Jabulani is more of an item from the “grocery
store”.

“The new model is
absolutely inadequate and I believe it is shameful to play such an
important competition, where so many champions are taking part, with a
ball like that,” said Buffon, who won the 2006 World Cup with his
country, on his personal website.

England young
goalkeeper Joe Hart also revealed he has had problems handling Jabulani
as he voiced his concern over the speed at which the ball moves in the
air.

“They’re doing
anything but staying in my gloves,” Hart told the media during the
week. “It’s hard work with them, but good fun. It makes the game
exciting and I think that’s what they are trying to do with it.”

It is not
surprising that the barrage of criticisms against the ball is coming
now taking into consideration the fact that this is perhaps the longest
possible spell the players have to train with the ball since the end of
the club football season across the world.

Nigeria’s keepers may cope

Super Eagles
goalies led by Vincent Enyeama will also have something to worry about
with Jabulani but may manage. The Hapoel Tel Aviv keeper and his
counterpart Austin Ejide have already given a promising impression on
how they hope to cope with the World Cup ball with their performance
against Colombia and Saudi Arabia respectively.

The powerful flight
of the ball was absolutely unstoppable for Enyeama for Colombia’s lead
in the 1-1 draw at Milton Keynes last weekend but he did well to stop
another ferocious effort and he also handled the opponent’s crosses
well throughout the game. His performance coupled with Ejide’s good
showing in the first friendly against the Saudis may have thrown up an
interesting fight for the top spot.

Argentina threat

An explosive
attacking contingent being paraded by our first group opponents,
Argentina, our goalkeepers will be facing the real Jabulani test on
June 12 at the 62,000-seater Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. The
quintet of Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and
Gonzalo Higuain netted an astonishing total of 153 goals among them in
club football last season; add another 18 from Angel Di Maria and you
can expect these guys will like to wine and dine with Jabulani- the
goalkeepers’ nightmare.

June 12 is a
notable day in Nigeria’s history – the day we had our fairest election
till date – and it will be significant if Lars Lagerback and his squad
get a result against the South Americans on the day. The importance of
a result in the first game cannot be over-flogged and it is hoped that
Enyeama, who is expected to retain his number one spot will be good
enough to conquer the worrying Jabulani by keeping a clean sheet. But
the Eagles defence certainly has a huge role to play in the fight
against the new Adidas phenomenon.

The 11 colours that are present on the
Jabulani pay tribute to both football and the country in which Africa’s
first-ever FIFA World Cup will be held.

They represent a colour for each team
player, every official South African language and for each of the 11
South African communities that will welcome the world next year.

The design celebrates two of the most
important facets of the South African nation – diversity and harmony –
as it is these principles that make it such a colourful and welcoming
nation.

Editor’s note: This article was completed before John Mikel Obi withdrew from the Super Eagles’ team to the World Cup.

No Nigerian player
has had the privilege of featuring at all three male exclusive FIFA
tournaments – the World Cup, the U-20 World Cup, as well as the U-17
World Cup.

Well, all that is
about to change in the days ahead as three Super Eagles players look
set to join an elite group of players who have featured at these three
tournaments.

They are the team’s
iconic midfielder, John Obi Mikel; versatile forward, Chinedu Obasi;
and upcoming midfielder, Lukman Haruna, who will be the youngest player
in the Nigerian team at the World Cup in South Africa.

For Mikel and his
close buddy, Obasi, their journey to this exclusive club began in 2003
at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland, where the Golden Eaglets failed
to make it past the first round. Two years later, the location shifted
from chilly Scandinavia to windy but clement Holland, where they
impressed, along with the rest of the Flying Eagles, on the way to a
second place finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, with Mikel emerging as
the tournament’s second best player behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

Haruna’s journey to
football stardom began two years later at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup
in South Korea, where he captained the Golden Eaglets to their third
world title, at the expense of Spain. The Monaco midfielder, along with
the rest of the Nigerian team, couldn’t however, go beyond the second
round at last year’s U-20 World Cup in Egypt. But he will be hoping for
something better in South Africa as he gets set to do what no other
skipper of any of the country’s other victorious Golden Eaglets sides –
1985 captain, Nduka Ugbade and Wilson Oruma of the class of 1993 – were
able to do.

So close for Ugbade

Ugbade, who
featured at the maiden U-17 tournament in China in 1985, as well as two
U-20 tournaments in 1987 and 1989, came close to achieving this feat
before missing out on the 1994 World Cup in the United States, while
the likes of Oruma, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Karibe Ojigwe,
Victor Ikpeba, Benedict Akwuegbu, James Obiorah, and Femi Opabunmi
appeared at all the tournaments, except for the U-20 World Cup.

Ugbade’s experience
still leaves a sore taste in the mouth of the former Real Madrid youth
player as he was quite certain of going to the 1994 World Cup; after
all, he had appeared in virtually all of the Super Eagles’ qualifying
matches and even got to play at that year’s African Nations Cup. But he
was dropped by the team’s handler, Clemens Westerhof, and never got to
play at the World Cup with the record he so desperately craved, going
to Russia’s Yuri Nikiforov and Mike Burns of the USA.

Ugbade wonders who among the trio will get to feature in the opening match against Argentina on June 12.

“I am really happy
that after all these years, some players now have the chance to achieve
what I came so close to achieving in 1994,” Ugbade told NEXTSports.

“All I’m waiting for now is to find out who among them will be the first to play in South Africa.”

It is now a race
among the trio to see who would end up becoming the first Nigerian to
complete the World Cup cycle when the Super Eagles file out against
Argentina at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 12. Except Lars
Lagerback decides to field all three players against the South
Americans.

They won’t,
however, be the first Africans to reach this historic milestone as that
honour already belongs to the Ghanaian pair of Stephen Appiah and
Michael Essien, following their appearances at the Germany 2006 World
Cup.

Exactly a year and
a day after Robin Soderling of Sweden ended Rafael Nadal’s exceptional
run at Roland Garros, he caused another major upset by beating
defending champion and world number one, Roger Federer in the
quarter-final of the French Open.

From the moment I
saw the line up for the quarter-finals, I knew Federer was in trouble
even though the Swede had not won a match in 12 attempts against the
Swiss superstar, including the final of last year’s French open.

Sweet revenge

That record
doesn’t count much now because Soderling got his sweetest and most
satisfying revenge when it mattered the most. His victory not only ends
Federer’s campaign at the French open, but ended his amazing record of
23 consecutive semi-final appearances at grand slams. Also if Rafa goes
on to win the title; he takes over from Roger as world no 1, which
delays the Fed Express equalling and breaking Pete Sampras record of
286 weeks as no 1 player in the world. This is what you call “La
revanche dous” in French and “sweet revenge” in English.

The heavy
conditions on the day suited Soderling’s game; his confidence was sky
high and evident in his ground strokes and serves. He played so well
that I remember a Nadal fan saying, “I shudder to think what will
happen to Rafa if Soderling meets him in that form”.

The victory over
Roger makes the Swede the first man to beat a defending champion at
Roland Garros in back-to-back years since Mats Wilander in 1984 and ‘85
and the second man to beat Roger and Rafa in the same tournament.

As for Federer, is this the beginning of the end? This has been an annoying question in the last two years.

Tennis fans have
heard comments like, his time is over; he has peaked, he has won his
tournament, the young guys are coming, etc. Yet, since he lost the
Wimbledon final to Nadal in 2008, he has made every final in Grand
Slam, excluding this French Open. He’s won four Grand Slams since then,
yet people still suggest he’s done. Is he the player that once owned
everyone in 2003-2007?

No, but he is still
one of the 3 favourites to win every slam he enters. Clearly, one of
the most impressive streaks in the history of sports has ended but we
know he doesn’t let those things stay with him for long. He’s a great
adapter and a great adjuster. He could go on to win Wimbledon and the
US open, which are his favourite surfaces this summer, and even if he
does lose earlier than expected again, it certainly wouldn’t be a
shame, would it?

And like he said,
he “it was a great run, and I have the quarter-final streak going”. The
guy wins on every surface; he has sixteen Grand Slam titles, 23
straight semi-final appearances, over 280 weeks at number one, and has
broken pretty much every record. A true ambassador of the sport indeed.
What more could he do? I guess winning all four slams in one calendar
year is the only thing missing, but you can’t have it all, can you?

End of dominance

There’s no doubt
that Roger’s days of utter dominance are over and he’s more prone to
losing now, but to suggest or question whether he’s declining or
‘finished’ as some people have, is terrible. Andy Murray lost in the
3rd round this year; does that mean he’s ‘done’?

As for me, win or lose and even if he never wins one more title, I remain a Federer fan till I die.

The French open for
me ended after both Wimbledon defending champions exit. Serena
William’s loss to Aussie Samantha Stosur was particularly upsetting.
Stosur served for the match in the second set, but as we have often
seen it with Serena, she just refused to back-off. After fighting back
and even getting a match point, she just couldn’t close out the match.
Good for her, she’s had a great tournament and deserved a place in the
final. Not to take anything from Stosur’s game, I still think that
women’s tennis is on the decline and not as exciting as it used to be.
God help us if Venus and Serena decide to retire at this “down time”.

Interestingly, a year ago, Stosur met Schiavone in a first-round match at Roland Garros.

Stosur was the last
seed and Schiavone is unseeded. Amazing how much can happen in a year.
It’s the first time since the 2004 French Open that both finalists made
their Grand Slam finals debut.

We have a new female champion at Roland Garros this year, and hopefully, there will be a new men’s champion.

Super Eagles forward Obafemi Martins says he is ready to sink and swim with the squad in South Africa.

The Wolfsburg FC of
Germany striker spoke against the background of reports in the media
indicating that he was lukewarm in his attitude during training.

An angry coach?

On Friday, some
sections of the Nigerian media quoting an unnamed team official, said
the former Newcastle hit man was not showing enough seriousness during
training session, a development that is seriously infuriating Eagles
coach, Lars Lagerback.

The quoted official
noted that such was Lagerback’s anger at Martins’ antics that he
considered dropping him from the squad but was held back from doing so
owing to the shin injury, which ruled out Everton striker, Victor
Anichebe.

“Martins would have
been dropped for Anichebe because Lagerback complained about his
attitude. Other pulled their weight in training but the Wolfsburg
striker was not bothered,” the official said.

But Martins says
all this is hogwash. He stated that being quite happy to be in the
squad, he is ready to fight for a starting shirt in the line-up when
Nigeria squares up against Argentina on June 12.

Giving all

“My issues as always are about performances on the pitch and not in the newspapers,” Martins said on Friday.

“The coach was
equally shocked as myself to hear all these things being said about me.
It’s sad that when we have important preparation towards a big
tournament like the World Cup some people would go about talking
negatives about the team or players. As long as the team is doing what
we could or should do then I’m happy, and I think that’s the same for
most players.”

The former Inter
striker who has chalked up 16 goals in 31 matches for Nigeria says he
is not fazed by this development but will throw his whole being into
ensuring that Nigeria excels at the mundial.

“Like many of the
players in this present squad, this is my first World Cup and we are
all fighting to make a great impact collectively,” he explained. “No
one is guaranteed a starting place, past performance counts for nothing
and so therefore I want to make sure I give my all every time.”

He added that whoever was behind the reports clearly missed the
mark. “Whoever is speculating or accusing me of lacking the heart
certainly doesn’t know me.” he said. “This is the World Cup and no one
brings their B-game and I am ready to fight like everyone else to make
the country proud.”

Does sex affect a
footballer’s performance? This is, perhaps, the oldest and most
fundamental question, not just in football, but across the whole
spectrum of sports in general.

The Ancient Greeks,
in the build up to the Olympics, were of the opinion that sex sapped
energy. That is, it lowered testosterone, the hormone of both sexual
desire and aggression.

England coach,
Fabio Capello, obviously belongs to this school of thought as he has
ordered his players not to indulge in sex throughout the duration of
the World Cup in South Africa.

But not all teams heading to South Africa are facing a sex ban.

Fun-loving Argentines

Speaking last week
in a radio programme in Argentina, the team doctor of the former world
champions, Donato Vallani, said the players can have sex with their
regular partners during the tournament.

“The players can
have sex with their wives and girlfriends during the World Cup. Players
are not Martians,” said Vallani on Radio Del Plata.

“But,” he added,
“it should not be at 2 a.m. with champagne and Havana cigars. Sex is a
normal part of social life and is not a problem. The disadvantages are
when it is with someone who is not a stable partner or when the player
should be resting.”

The doctor further noted that “the action should not reverberate in the legs of the players.”

This view of the
Argentine doctor is similar to the order handed down to the Croatian
team by their doctor, Zoran Bahtijarevic, six years ago, at the
European Championships in Portugal, that their love-making should “not
involve any excessive sex.”

A touch of samba

Brazil coach,
Carlos Dunga, also has no problem with his players’ sex life, but was
quick to add that the players would only be allowed to indulge in the
act on their off days.

Speaking recently to the Brazilian media, Dunga, who captained Brazil to the world title in 1994, said:

“Not everybody
likes sex, drinking wine or ice-cream,” before adding, “but on their
off days, everyone is allowed to do what they want.”

Capello, however,
begs to differ, as he will not permit any hanky-panky from his players
at the World Cup. According to the English newspaper, the Daily Star,
the 63-year-old former AC Milan, Juventus, and Real Madrid coach has
ordered his players to stay away from sex for the duration of the
tournament to ensure they are bursting with energy this time around.

Conservative Capello

Capello obviously
still has fresh in his head the antics of the English team from the
last World Cup tournament, where they became more famous for their
off-the-field activities, before reaching the decision that has
naturally not been received in good faith by the wives and girlfriends
of the players.

England have not
won the World Cup since 1966, and have failed to make it past the
quarter finals in three consecutive tournaments, but Capello hopes to
change all that and has gone further in his quest at turning it into a
reality as he has ordered for surveillance cameras to be installed
around the hotel, including inside the players’ rooms, to ensure his
directives are carried out to the letter.

“I guess the coach
only wants what is best for the team, but I think he has gone too far
by placing cameras in their rooms,” said former Super Eagles defender,
Nduka Ugbade, who has never participated at the senior World Cup, in an
interview. He also said that “the players should be treated as adults,
and not as children who don’t know what is right from wrong.”

Former Brazilian
striker, Romario, once said: “Good strikers can only score goals when
they have had good sex on the night before a match,” and the late Welsh
forward, George Best, agreed, saying: “I certainly never found it had
any effect on my performance. Maybe best not the hour before, but the
night before makes no odds.” Former Arsenal and Sweden forward, Freddie
Ljungberg, however, holds a different view as he says that having sex
the night before a match makes his legs feel like concrete.

Nigerian example

There hasn’t been
any further comments from other teams taking part in the World Cup,
including the Nigerian team, but that does not in any way mean these
teams have an apathy towards the subject. Rather, it could be the
opposite.

“When we went to
the World Cup, we were given permission to have sex,” said a former
Super Eagles player who played under Clemens Westerhof at Nigeria’s
debut World Cup appearance in 1994, but who pleaded anonymity as he was
already married at the time of the tournament.

“Having sex takes
away a lot of stress,” he continued in the interview with NEXTSports.
“We played better as a result, and the coaches encouraged us to do it
once in a while. A few of us were married, but in the absence of our
wives we had to do it with some of the locals. But it was safe sex and
we were warned not to tarnish the image of the country by making it too
obvious.”

The Super Eagles
were one of the best teams at that World Cup, but suffered a shock
second round loss to eventual runners-up, Italy. Was it as a result of
the players’ involvement in sex?

“It’s not the sex
which tires out young players,” said Westerhof, in an interview
published back in 2002 in the Observer Sport Monthly. “It’s the staying
up all night looking for it.”

The year 2002 also
saw the Super Eagles appearing at the World Cup co-hosted by Korea and
Japan. Adeboye Onigbinde was the team’s coach, and he had a zero-level
tolerance for sex at competitions.

“My players must
get themselves prepared spiritually and this can be best achieved
through total abstinence from women,” he said before the tournament.
“They cannot afford to be distracted at such a critical period because
women are agents of distraction.” Onigbinde’s approach didn’t work,
however, as the Super Eagles failed to advance to the second round.

Scientific research

So does having sex
actually improve a player’s performance on the field of play? Sportsmen
have long perpetuated the theory that sex before competition saps
energy. Former boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, reportedly wouldn’t make
love for six weeks before a fight. Another boxer, Rocky Marciano, would
excuse himself from the marital bed for months before a big bout; while
Primo Carnera went further still by wrapping a rubber band around his
penis when he went to bed.

Ten years ago, Ian
Shrier, a sports medicine specialist at McGill University in Montreal,
Canada, published an editorial titled ‘Does Sex the Night Before
Competition Decrease Performance?’ in the Clinical Journal of Sports
Medicine. Shrier wrote that the “long-standing myth that athletes
should practice abstinence before important competitions may stem from
the theory that sexual frustration leads to increased aggression.” The
abstinence tradition is particularly strong in power sports, such as
boxing and football, in which aggression is considered a valuable
trait, as it is believed that sexual indulgence draws testosterone from
the body.

Emmanuele Jannini,
a professor of endocrinology at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, is
however, one of the most vocal opponents of this theory.

Endocrinology is
the study of bodily secretions, and Jannini, who has studied the
effects of sex on athletic performance, has found that sex in fact
stimulates the production of testosterone, thus boosting aggression.

“After three months
without sex, which is not so uncommon for some athletes, testosterone
dramatically drops to levels close to children’s levels,” he said. “Do
you think this may be useful for a boxer?”, he argued in an article
posted on the National Geographic website.

But, he made some clarifications to the effect that sex varies among athletes.

“Some personalities need more concentration. In this case, sex may be a bad idea,” he said.

“For other athletes, a bit of extra aggression could be the difference” between winning and losing.

“In this case, I would suggest a complete and satisfactory sexual intercourse the evening before the game,” added the Italian.