Stephen Hawking Gives England Soccer Team Advice For Winning World Cup

by Chelsea ReganMay 29, 2014, 12:00 amNews >

Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist who penned A Brief History Of Time, is now lending his scientific mind to England’s World Cup squad by providing a statistical analysis of what will give them the best chance of capturing a championship win.

Stephen Hawking Advises England's World Cup Team

In his breakdown for the Roy Hodgson-led team, Hawking offered suggestions on uniform color, formation, referee preference, temperature and kick off time. "Statistically England's red kit is more successful and we should play 4-3-3 rather than 4-4-2,” according to Hawking. “Psychologists in Germany found red makes teams feel more confident and can lead them to being perceived as more aggressive and dominant. Likewise, 4-3-3 is more positive so the team benefits for similar psychological reasons.”

"The data shows we also need to hope for a European referee. European referees are more sympathetic to the English game and less sympathetic to ballerinas like [Luis] Suarez,” Hawking continued. “We do better in temperate climates, at low altitudes with kick-off as close to the normal three o'clock as possible.”

The award-winning scientist also provided some statistical wisdom on penalty kicks, which England notoriously struggles with. "If only I had whispered this in Chris Waddle's ear before he sent the ball into orbit in 1990. Use the side foot rather than laces and you are 10% more likely to score,” he said. “The statistics confirm the obvious. Place the ball in the top left or right hand corner for the best chance of success – 84% of penalties in those areas score. The ability of strikers to place the ball results in them being more likely to score than midfielders and defenders.”

England is joined in Group D by Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy in the 2014 World Cup. The team would then have to fight their way through the round of 16, quarterfinal and semis to make it to the finals and compete for a World Cup victory.