Football. Religion. Rituals. Superstitions.
Seemingly there's place for all of this on the turf.
Today we'll look at a few players who have their way of going about things before the first whistle blows for kickoff.
Good day footiecall FAITHFUL!
Before every game of FIFA World Cup '98, Laurent Blanc would kiss the bald head of Fabien Barthez. Worked a charm! MUFC should maybe have signed the centre half earlier...
Argentina goalkeeper, Sergio Goycochea, had the dirty habit [or was it ritual] of urinating on the field before a penalty shootout. Worked for him, until Italia '90...
Mario Gomez will only use the urinal furthest to the left.
How's that for taking the piss?!
Anyone recognise him? This Englishman opted not to have any shots on goal in the warm up, so he didn't waste any goals. If he hadn't scored by halftime, he'd change his shirt...if this didn't help, he'd go and get his hair cut.
Kolo Toure needs to be the last man out onto the pitch. According to him. This is fine, until he missed the start of a UEFA Champions League game for Arsenal and was subsequently booked for entering the field without permission.
During FIFA World Cup 2010, Diego Maradona would come out wearing the Albiceleste tracksuit, only to return after half-time wearing this grey suit. I reckon it'll take more than that to improve his coaching.
Another legendary Argentine, Juan Sebastian Veron wore bandage around his right knee for every game. This started in 1997, when he injured that knee, bandaged it and it apparently brought him good fortune.
Finally, closer to home, the coach of Midlands Port Cement [a Zimbabwean 1st Division Club] commanded his players to bathe in the crocodile infested waters of the Zambisi river...as it is believed this would allay evil spirits. What it did do is reduce the squad from 17 to 16 players...and they lost their next fixture.
I'm sure there's a whole list of other routines we could refer to. Feel free to drop them in the comments section below.
Thanks for joining me.
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