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Nature 441, 793 (15 June 2006) | doi:10.1038/441793a; Published online 14 June 2006

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Goal fever at the World Cup

Michael Hopkin

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Why the first strike counts.

As the World Cup kicks off in Germany, mathematicians say they have proved one of soccer's classic clichés — the idea that when a team scores, the resulting confidence boost helps players romp to victory with a flurry of goals.Although often seen as wishful thinking rather than football fact, such goal fever can be seen in football results stretching back decades, says mathematician Martin Weigel of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK.

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