Stephen Hawking has made an unlikely union with bookmaker Paddy Power in order to evaluate how England can win the World Cup 2014.
British scientist and all-around genius Hawking embarked on a month-long study into the science of England's international performances, and came back with an evaluation on how Roy Hodgson's squad can achieve the unthinkable and lift the trophy in Rio, Brazil.
Speaking of his studies, Hawking said: "England's likely success can be worked out by looking at a number of environmental, physiological, political and tactical variables.
"It is hugely complicated. In fact, compare to football I think Quantum Physics is relatively straightforward."
He concluded that a 4-3-3 formation has worked best in England's previous international encounters, that temperate climates are preferred by our players (which stands to reason, given the climate of the UK) and that European referees have overseen more England victories than any other continent.
Other results include bald and blonde players faring better, England kits with multiple colours have led the team to victory more often than the favoured plain white kit and that 84% of penalties hit in the top corners of the goal go in. Given England's track record when it comes to penalty shootouts, we hope that we won't have to see the players adopting this tactic.
