So, did the sex ban work?

Cameroonian soccer players only scored once during the World Cup - and it wasn't in the bedroom. The team is among six whose players had reportedly been instructed not to have sex during the World Cup in the hopes that celibacy would somehow enhance their athletic ability.

Apparently, it didn't do that much good.

And they could have missed both!

Coaches for Bosnia, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Mexico and South Korea banned sex for their teams and it is time to analyse their harvests. Of all these, only Chile and Mexico moved on to the tournament's round of 16. But as of now, none of them is still in the tournament. They are out and running.

The notion that celibacy helps performance has been around for decades and it is time someone put a final nail to the noticeboard. Should we romp or zip up because we are tired of being told that the science is not conclusive.

Jeff Janata, psychology division chief at University Hospitals Case Medical Centre in Cleveland, Ohio, US, says most science that comes close relates sports excellence to the idea that testosterone and aggression are linked. Janata explains that some scientists assume that people lose testosterone through ejaculation. Yet, she argues, science suggests just the opposite.

"Celibate men actually have lower testosterone levels than men who have regular sex," she says. "So if you're looking at testosterone and aggression, maybe there's logic to actually engaging in sex," he said. "If you're looking at performance in general, there's some evidence that sex actually enhances performance across a variety of areas, as long as it's not immediately before the act."

Sex releases endorphins, which act as the body's natural pain relievers, Janata said. It can also help calm anxious players before their matches.

But what about burning too many calories before a match? After all, Brazil reportedly banned only "acrobatic" sex, and its team is still moving on, albeit struggling, to the next round.

"Sex does not really expend that much in the way of calories to the chagrin of people who like to think of it as their trip to the gym," Janata said, adding that a typical sex act only amounts to the number of calories in a "hard-boiled egg."