It’s World Cup time and that will soon come and go, but what will linger is the players. Many watch the games religiously for those amazing goals and incredible saves. For those that aren’t soccer fans, the World Cup is just a little more primal. Few would deny that the strength and endurance of these players makes them some of the ‘hottest’ men on the planet. In fact, there are even lists created over the hottest players.
There is no question that Thomas Mueller (Germany) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) who are forwards, both have some serious skills, but they are just as famous for their ‘sex appeal.’ The Croatian soccer team was captured by a photographer swimming nude at their team pool. It was a paparazzi ambush and they protested loudly over the release of these photos (of course to no avail). So what is it about soccer players that gains so much attention not just relating to their strength, endurance and skill but to their overall ‘sexiness?’
Evolutionary biologist, Erik Postma, who is a scientist at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at University of Zurich has its own theories about why this is.
“It is quite likely that elite soccer players are more attractive than the general population … they are young men who work out a lot, spend a lot of time outside and who are generally healthy.” Furthermore, fame, wealth and success make you more attractive.”
Well, that’s a great theory, but there are many sports where the professional athletes are fit, have great endurance and plenty of strength, yet we don’t hear about those players being hot. Why is that? According to science, if you look through evolution you’ll find that women were attracted to males because they believed they would make good mates. Washboard abs, strong jaws, and muscular legs/arms were once an indicator that a man would make a desirable partner and a good provider.
Postma goes on to say, “[A]t least some of the things that make for a good soccer player (strong, fast and healthy) also make for a good husband and father.”
Soccer players such as Ronaldo have that lean, no fat, define muscular body with long legs and power thighs –when that strength is combined with endurance, apparently the females translate that to ‘sexy.’
“When it comes to male attractiveness, there is a lot of emphasis on strength. However … it might have been particularly important to have a high endurance performance,” says Postma, who studied the attractiveness of Tour de France athletes. People thought cyclists with better endurance were hotter.”
There is no question that the best soccer players also have significant endurance. In fact all players run around 10 miles in any given game according to sports medicine expert/orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Geier who is from Charleston, South Carolina. They all have very strong calf muscles and thighs – after all they must in order to be able to change direction on a dime or jump quickly. It’s definitely a game where without endurance you simply wouldn’t make the grade. In any 90 minute period these players are running all over the field and are constantly on the move. Many of us couldn’t do that – we’d drop dead from exhaustion, not to mention not having the necessary strength.
Not all of the positions are the same. The perception is that different skills are needed for different positions and so some players are seen as more/less attractive. Research has shown that people think hockey forwards are more attractive than defenders. In soccer it’s the same.
Whether we are talking about Gerar Pique or Ronaldo or everyone in between, soccer players are seen as the ‘complete package’ or a complete athlete with their speed, strength and endurance. But they are also recognized for being very attractive. Honestly, has anyone seen a soccer player that wasn’t attractive? You’d almost think that was a prerequisite to playing. That doesn’t always happen in all sports – take hockey, for example, there are some players that aren’t as attractive.
The body of a soccer player is almost a perfect match for the western worlds idea of beauty. Soccer players stand out over other sports like football or basketball for a number of reasons. These guys are actually of average size, unlike so many sports where the men are enormous, which women find less attractive.
According to the experts, there’s a psychological connection that can occur with soccer players because they don’t wear helmets or gear making their overall physiques more visible. It’s also a dramatic game with kissing, hugging, and emotions running wild – this in itself makes these players appear sexier. There might even be tearing off of shirts as has been seen from Mario Balotelli (forward) and Daniele De Rossi (midfielder) when celebrating a win. There physiques are there for the admiring.
According to associate professor in biostatics Kendra Schmid who is at the University of Nebraska Medical Center Kendra Schmid, facial symmetry is also important. A study Schmid conducted relating to face attractiveness, there is a particular look with features that are correctly spaced and soccer players tend to fit this criteria.
Kendra says, “I have noticed many of the soccer players do exhibit some of these proportions.“
So it seems even if soccer isn’t a woman’s game and even if she couldn’t care less about the World Cup, she does appreciate the finer things about the soccer player which includes his strength and endurance – and that translates to sexy.
