In football, the line between strange habits and superstition is relatively thin. Even legendary football players, coaches and coaches rely on spirituality to win.

Below are the 10 most superstitious stories in football.

10 most superstitious stories in football history

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in football history, he rose through effort and hard work. However, he also has many habits, even superstitions, which may have contributed to turning him into the football star he is today.

Accordingly, every time he goes to compete with the team by plane, he always wants to be the first person to set foot on the ground. He also wants to be the first person to set foot on the home team’s turf. In addition, he always sets a single stance before taking a free kick.

Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is one of the biggest legends of Dutch football. However, not many people know that Johan Cruyff once had a strange habit that as a coach he certainly never allowed his players to do. Specifically, right before the matches, Cruyff hit goalkeeper Gert Bals in the stomach, walked towards the opponent’s field and spit chewing gum towards their goal.

He shared in an interview: “I know these habits are very strange, but they seem to work for me. When I’m done, I can fully concentrate on competing.”

In the 1969 European Cup final, Cruyff hit Bals in the stomach and then walked towards the opponent’s field to spit out the gum as usual. However, he realized that he forgot… to eat the gum. In the end, Ajax was crushed with a score of 1-4.

The French team attended the 1998 World Cup

At the 1998 World Cup, France’s star-studded squad with many talents such as Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps, Emmanuel Petit and Thierry Henry excellently reached the final. But the French team had a pre-match ritual that may have contributed to their success.

Specifically, defender Laurent Blanc kissed goalkeeper Fabien Barthez’s bald head before kicking. The more the team wins, the more Blanc kisses his teammates’ heads. Finally, in the final, the entire French team kissed goalkeeper Barthez’s head, including the reserve players and coach. In the end, the French team defeated powerful Brazil to win the 1998 World Cup.

Not only that, the French team always listens to Gloria Gaynor’s hit “I Will Survive” in the dressing room before every match. The players also always keep their seats on the team bus from the beginning to the end of the tournament.

Australian team in 1969

In 1969, the Australian team met Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1970 World Cup 2nd qualifying playoff match. After two rounds of inconclusive matches, they had to play the deciding match against Mozambique. Because they were so worried, the Socceroos had to find a sorcerer to place a curse on their opponents.

Immediately, this person turned to curse the Australian team. The Socceroos were defeated by Israel in the final match and did not qualify for the 1970 World Cup. At the 1974 World Cup, they were promptly eliminated without scoring any goals. In the next 7 World Cups, they failed to qualify for the final round and captain Johnny Warren had to exclaim that his team was cursed.

In 2004, Johnny Warren told the story to John Safran and the two of them went to Mozambique to break the curse. The new wizard came to the stadium where the old match took place, sacrificed a chicken, and dripped its blood onto Safran’s head. They brought clay from Mozambique to Australia to complete the curse by plastering it on their bodies.

From 2006 until now, the Australian team has always participated in the final round of the World Cup.

Derby County

In 1895, when Derby County moved to the new stadium, the Baseball Ground – where they would stay for the next 102 years, the team had to evict a group of gypsies living in the area.

However, they did not know that that action would cause the team to be cursed forever after. This group of people vowed that Derby County would never win another FA Cup championship. Although the curse is said to be fictional and just an excuse for the club’s poor performance, it still haunts fans of this team.

Derby County reached the finals in 1898, 1899 and 1904 but lost all three. More than 40 years later, they could not reach the finals of any tournament.

In 1946, Derby County won the FA Cup. Many people believe that the curse was lifted by the prayers of fans. However, it is rumored that, before the final match, Jackie Stamps (the player who scored 2 goals in that match) met and paid a gypsy to lift the curse.

Romeo Anconetani

Former player, coach and president of AC Pisa club – Romeo Anconetani used to have a rather superstitious habit: Throwing salt on the field to bring luck to his team. The bigger the matches, the more salt he threw at Arena Garibaldi.

However, this habit of the former president is a bit excessive. In AC Pisa’s important match against Cesena, he entered Arena Garibaldi and sprinkled nearly… 26kg of salt into the 4 corners of the field.

Pele

As one of the greatest players of all time, Pele is also famous for being superstitious.

While struggling at the most difficult time in his career, the Brazilian legend gave himself away after giving a shirt to a fan. Immediately, he asked his friend to find that shirt.

Fortunately, this friend found that shirt for Pele, and his performance also stabilized. However, the truth was later revealed, the shirt Pele wanted to find was lost forever. He was simply tricked by his friend. However, belief is more than enough for the Football King to return to top form.