5 Good Luck Charms for Footballers

Superstition plays a significant role in the lives of many players and athletes. You might think that all it takes to win a trophy is exercise, nutritious diets, and a whole lot of practice drills. Some footballers feel that they need a little more than that. Players and teams stick to good luck charms that they believe give them an edge over the opposition.

Some players have lucky underpants that they swear they have to wear to achieve success in their matches. There are various seemingly crazy superstitions that players and fans swear by. Let us look at some of the good luck charms for footballers:

Garlic

Garlic has long been known to wade off evil spirits. The ancient Romans believed that garlic kept witches away. Many cultures hold the belief that garlic deflects any wicked gazes of jealousy that may cause bad luck. The practice of using garlic to keep away bad luck has sipped into the football world. The Spanish football team, Deportivo La Coruna, which assisted many footballers to kickstart their careers, tended to believe in the power of garlic. Fans of the football team would sprinkle garlic around the pitch for good luck. They believed the garlic would fend off any evil spirits and thwart the chances of the opposing team scoring against them. The practice may sound crazy, but who is to say it did not work, seeing that the team never lost a home game from 1992 to 2010.

Right foot first

In addition to their talents and immense hours of practice, many footballers try to ensure that the gods of fortune smile down on them. One ritual practiced in the hope of securing good luck is entering the pitch with the right leg first. Marcelo, the Brazil defender, always goes to the field with his right foot first. The practice is so ingrained that once reentered the pitch after accidentally entering with the left foot. The football legend Cristiano Ronaldo is also known to step into the field with his right foot first. Maybe, there is something about these superstitions because we all know that Ronaldo is a king on the pitch.

Lucky numbers

Jersey numbers in football are a significant identity for footballers. The numbers are usually iconic symbols. And are in sizes that are larger than the name of the players themselves on the jersey. You can not separate the jersey numbers from the players. We have had instances where the jersey number is retired to respect a player. That has been the case for Maradona’s number 10 at Napoli. In addition to their training, talents, and hard work, some players feel that having luck on their side also plays a significant role in how they perform in the games.

Some players have lucky jersey numbers that they stick with and request them when they move teams because they believe that the number brings them good luck in the matches. Players believe in the sacredness of numbers. For instance, in Manchester United, the number 7 has been worn by some of the most legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo, George Best, Bryan Robinson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. Since then, the number is said to have lost its sacredness and is no longer on the backs of great players. Several numbers are deemed lucky numbers around the world that people believe bring out the best outcomes in betting and the field.

A pinch of salt

Plato thought that salt was especially dear to the gods. It, therefore, should come as no surprise when football fans season the field with salt in the hope of tasting the winning fortune. Romeo Anconetani took the pre-match ritual; of sprinkling salt onto the pitch very seriously.

The legendary former president of Pisa would scatter salt on the field before every match. He believed that the salt made his team win games. The bigger the game, the more salt he would throw on the field. He once got 26kg of salt to throw on the turf when his team was competing with their local rivals, AC Cesena.

Laurent Blanc and Fabien Barthez’s Shiny head

The French defender, Laurent Blanc, always kissed the goalkeeper’s bald head before kick-off. The ritual formed one of the visual highlights of the 1998 world cup. Laurent Blanc kissed the shiny bald head of the goalkeeper Fabien Barthez as he always did before every game. Not only that, the team adopted the practice of sitting in the same seat on the bus to the stadium.
Laurent Blanc later confessed that the team would all sit together in the dressing room to listen to Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I will survive’, on the night before matches. The lucky charms might have been effective seeing that the French team would come top in the World Cup after performing those rituals.

Final Remarks

Do the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s of the world rely on pure skill to perform as well as they do on the pitch? Or do good luck charms and pre-match routines factor in their impeccable performances? It is not known if the superstitious rituals work. Or if their placebo effect increases the players’ confidence in the pitch. Even so, we cannot deny that we have had teams performing better after doing their good luck rituals.