Maradona's men put sex-before-soccer myths to bed

By Helen Popper

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - For Diego Maradona's Argentine squad, sex is fine as long as it is not 2 a.m. and accompanied by a bottle of bubbly.

It is one of football's hottest debates; is sex a distraction or can a little bit of what players fancy help ease the strain and tension of World Cup competition?

The polemic resurfaced at the World Cup this week after British newspapers said the pitch-side presence of the Spanish goalkeeper's glamorous girlfriend was being blamed for Spain's shock 1-0 defeat by Switzerland.

All things in moderation is the motto in the Argentine camp, and their virtually guaranteed spot in the second round suggests the liberal line is paying off so far.

"Sex isn't a problem. It's only a problem if they're doing it at two in the morning with a bottle of champagne on the go," team doctor Donato Villani said before coach Maradona and Co. set off for South Africa.

During Argentina's victorious 1986 World Cup campaign, coach Carlos Bilardo, a former gynecologist, said sex was fine as long as "the woman does the hard work".

Hosts South Africa have taken a similarly laid-back position, with the team coach giving a green light to conjugal visits from footballers' wives and girlfriends.

"We're not in prison or a military camp," Carlos Alberto Parreira said before The Boys' opening Group A clash.