Brazilian national team coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has recommended his players avoid having sex during the upcoming World Cup finals.
Scolari said he believes the players will be in better physical condition if they avoid intercourse during the May 31-June 30 finals in Japan and South Korea.
"Players who cannot control themselves when it comes to sex are not human. They are irrational beasts," said Scolari.
Scolari has sparked a debate in the country over whether having sex prior to a match really affects players' performances on the pitch and opinions among soccer analysts and journalists have ranged from opposition to support for the coach's policy.
Local media have said Scolari will have a tough time trying to control the players' sexual behavior, chiefly because the average age of his 23-man World Cup squad is 26.
"How can you control a group of virile young men who will be looking for a release from the pressure and stress of playing at the World Cup?" one analyst said.
Striker Edilson, 31, said it will be difficult to follow Scolari's recommendation because the players have got such active sexual lives.
"Fifty days without sex won't kill anybody, but we will be probably end up climbing the walls in excitement," the former Kashiwa Reysol forward joked, adding he may buy a plastic, inflatable doll to solve the problem.
Some players have said the Brazilian Soccer Confederation has not prohibited them from bringing their wives to Asia and they may even be staying in the same hotels.
Sex and soccer are often linked in Brazil, where condom manufacturers expect to sell some 35 million condoms featuring the colors of the most popular soccer clubs in the country.