Math is all around us: in our jobs, homes, and definitely in soccer and sports predictions.
We frequently find different connections between mathematics and soccer, which are used by the greatest specialists in this game. Some of them are basics of soccer predictions posted on this website.
True football fans still remember Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp and his masterpiece goals. Sports commentators describe him as a genius, mastering the game of soccer to perfection and possessing an extremely accurate shot, but what is he saying about himself?
“When I played in the Netherlands I always tried to hit the ball over the goalkeeper. People always questioned me about this. Why would I want to humiliate the goalkeeper or show arrogance? But I always explain: when the goalkeeper leaves his post, he angles towards him. smaller but opens the space above it. What I do is not a show, it is mathematics”.
This advice came from coach Louis Van Gaal, who teaches strategies for match success based on mathematical precision and order.
As his players say about him: Van Gaal is not one of those coaches who repeats to them: “do this, do that”. He will leave the technical part to them, but he is a master of the tactical part and he knows what each one must do to make the whole system work correctly.
“I hope to know the basics of mathematics in football well and try to apply it” – Ottmar Hitzfeld as Bayern Munich coach in 2007.
Ottmar Hizfield
Ottmar Hitzfeld graduated as a mathematics teacher and is now the most successful German soccer coach at club level. He has twice won FIFA’s best manager in the world award and is one of only three managers to win the Champions League with two different teams (Ernst Happel and Jose Mourinho are the other two).
Unlike most Germans, Hitzfeld developed his soccer career as a player in Switzerland, where he quickly became one of the country’s best strikers, helping Basel win championships in 1972 and 1973. While playing for the Swiss national team , Hitzfeld graduated and received his diploma. as a math and physical education teacher.
We believe that we have found the following evidence that shows that soccer is mathematical.
Hitzfeld is recognized for his managerial skills: the ability to control units in the team to work as one and develop and apply different tactics. The coach is taught perfectionism and sticks to all the details that would lead his team to success. For example, as the coach of the Swiss national team, he took the players to train at a specially selected mountain resort where the altitude above sea level is estimated to be more favorable for the players to adapt to the specific conditions of South Africa.
Therefore, when evaluating all factors, Hitzfeld follows his main coaching philosophy: “The next game is the most important one and we must do everything possible to win.”
Considering Hitzfeld’s mathematical education, his many successes in soccer are definitely not accidental, after all, this is a game that specialists often describe as a game of strategy.