A university professor has developed a mathematical formula which, he claims, shows Germany will win the soccer World Cup in South Africa in June.
Germany face Australia, Serbia and Ghana in Group D, but Metin Tolan, a physics professor at the University of Dortmund, is convinced Germany captain Michael Ballack will be lifting the World Cup following the final on July 11.
The scientist has written a formula based on trigonometry which analyses all Germany’s results from previous World Cups and predicts a winner for this year’s tournament.
Having won the World Cup three times — in 1954, 1974 and 1990 — Germany’s average finishing place at previous tournaments is 3.7 and Tolan says his formula shows this will be Germany’s year to lift the trophy.
“It is very simple, all my calculations prove this,” he told the Zeit Wissen magazine. “The last time we won the World Cup was back in 1990 and there have been four tournaments since. The average finishing place of the Germany team is 3.7 and the German team wins the title every fourth or fifth World Cup. Nobody can beat us this year and you can already put the champagne on ice.”
Tolan already predicted Germany would win the last World Cup, which they hosted in 2006, but unfortunately for his theory the home nation were beaten by eventual winners Italy in the semi-finals.
“My formula gave the winner for the following World Cup, this is why it works this time for sure,” he explained, undeterred after Jurgen Klinsmann’s side beat Portugal 3-1 to finish third at the last World Cup.
Tolan’s equations, however, could also help Germany’s arch-rivals England, who were dumped out of the last World Cup after being beaten on penalties by Portugal.
“The weakest kicker should take the first penalty, then the second-weakest and so on,” he said. “Then you have the greatest chance of scoring as many goals as possible.”
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
RSS