Sports
QAT | Nov 27, 2022

It’s no big deal to have sex before a World Cup game -Enrique

Al Edwards

Al Edwards / Our Today

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Spain coach Luis Enrique celebrates with Gavi after the match. (File Photo: REUTERS/Carl Recine)

It is often said that athletes should refrain from sex before a sporting event.

Early to bed in order to rise to the occasion.

The best sprinter the world has ever seen, Jamaica’s very own Usain Bolt, said he didn’t have sex the night before a race and when he did it affected his performance.

Speaking to the Sunday Times back in 2018, Bolt said: “In the early days, I did try having sex before a race just to see if it helped. It was a disaster. I was nowhere.”

Who can forget Rocky Balboa’s wizened, beloved trainer, Micky, barking at him: “Women weaken legs!”

Its World Cup time and footballers have to be in peak condition to perform at the Greatest Show on Earth.

But Spain’s coach, Luis Enrique, takes a different approach and believes it’s OK to shoot your shot before a game.

Speaking from Qatar to fans on social media platform Twitch, the legendary footballer-turned-coach said: “I don’t mind players having sex the night before matches but I draw the line at orgies.

“It’s ridiculous to ban sex. It’s something I consider totally normal.

“If you are at an orgy the night before a match, then obviously that’s not ideal. But when I’m a club coach the players are at home the night before a game and it’s not something that worries me at all.”

Many athletes go into seclusion and train, getting away from partners in order to focus, deferring intimacy until after the match.

Trevor Berbick vs Muhammad Ali in Nassau, Bahamas in 1981. (Photo: John Iacono)

Muhammad Ali famously abstained from sex, six weeks before a fight. He believed that by practicing abstinence, testosterone would build in the body, making him more aggressive, sharpening his abilities.

Other athletes don’t agree.

Rhonda Rousey said she had “as much sex as possible” before her fights and it worked for her.

Back to Luis Enrique, who said: “If it’s something they do then it’s because they need to and want to. But, I repeat, with common sense! Each one with their partner. It’s normal. When I was a player, if I was at home before a game, with my wife, swell we did what we had to do.” 

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