Footballers are a superstitious bunch. Whether they’re an amateur playing for their local club in division ten or a professional playing in front of tens of thousands every week, its hard to find a player without a superstition, a simple routine or what could be seen as a ritual. Discussing this with Ale we both had our own habits before matches, I have to brush my teeth and “use the loo” - not at the same time, just thought I’d clear that up. Ale has to clap his shin pads together before putting them on and his previous coach always joked about the “no sex the night before" rule. In the 2010 World Cup Fabio Cappello famously banned all WAGS of the English team from seeing their players before each match and were restricted to only post match visitation rights. Seeing as the team didn't make it to the quarter finals, maybe all they needed was a conjugal visit of sorts, a little spooning the night before perhaps.
Some player routines are so common we might not even be consciously aware that they are doing it. Countless will touch the ground and then cross their heart as they are about to run onto the pitch and do the same thing as they are subbed off. Whereas other are so discreet we wouldn't realise it's happening, along the similar lines of “step on a crack, break your mother’s back”, some players think its bad luck to step on the line markings of the pitch before kick off. Of course there is the most simple of routines which involves any and/or all of the following: putting socks on, strapping tape, shin pads, boots or tying shoelaces in a certain order. Bobby Moore would always be the last to put his shorts on in the dressing room before his team went out onto the pitch.
John Terry supposedly always uses the same urinal in the dressing room toilets at Stamford Bridge, happily waiting if his is taken. Adrian Mutu said he wears his underwear inside out to avoid injury. Gary Neville admitted to having so many superstitions he had to cut back at one stage, one of which was to wear the same shoes, belts and aftershave if United were on a roll, doing so for an entire season at times. Shay Given carries a vial of holy water with him into every match and places it at the back of his goal. Who can forget during the 1998 World Cup French defender Laurent Blanc kissing the scalp of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez before every single match. They went on to win the tournament but I’m pretty sure the kiss on the nutter had nothing to do with it.
There are also the celebrations which players routinely do after they score a goal. I think we’re all too familiar with the Gareth Bale love heart which he filed a trademark application for, what a money machine. When we say goal celebration every Newcastle United fan will think of Alan Shearer’s one arm salute. There’s the famous celebration of Timmy Cahill punching the football flag as a dedication to his family's boxing history. I was always a fan of the shirt off goal celebration, for obvious reasons, but in all seriousness I think making it illegal is just stupid. Speaking of stupid, back in March Greek footballer Giorgos Katidis was banned from all Greek national teams for life after he made a Nazi salute while celebrating a goal.
Its not just players who follow superstitions mind you, fans are known to get involved as well. I find myself doing it all the time, if I go to the bathroom or flick to another channel for a moment and my team go a goal up I can’t help but think that happened because I wasn't watching. Many fans insist on following a routine, whether it be watching their team at the same place, watching with the same people, holding their hands a certain way during the game, throwing salt over the shoulder prior or just the good old “When I attend matches we lose. When I don’t attend matches we win. I therefore stay home”. Who can forget Paul the octopus at the 2010 world cup, people believed his predictions like they came straight from God, and in the end he correctly predicted every result of Germany during the tournament as well as the final.
Professional football players spend their whole lives training and developing their body to perform as an elite athlete on some of the biggest stages in the world. They pour hours and hours of their lives into training in order to perfect their free kick, penalty taking, dribbling, sprinting, heading or tackling. These players performing just half a percent better than their opposition is the difference between a strike hitting the top left corner to it hitting the post, or making a fingertip save to missing the ball by millimeters. It is often that moment of sheer brilliance, the wonder strike that goes in or the impossible “how did he do that” save which bags all 3 points, a moment you arguably can’t train for. Sometimes you just need that little bit of luck in order to get it.
