Sometimes jinxes are just plain superstitions that hold no water and are broken without much fracas, like records that are set, broken and set only to be broken again. But then there are some that are just too tight to be overlooked, we look at some of them below:
Australian National Team.
In an autobiography by Jhonny Warren titled Sheilas, Wags and Poofters, he mentioned that the team consulted a witch doctor to help win the match against Zimbabwe for the Mexico World Cup qualifier. The shaman reportedly buried bones near the opposition goal and Australia went on to win the match 3-1. Then they could not pay up their bill of $1,000 and the angry witch doctor placed a curse on the team, they met Israel and were beaten and didn’t qualify for the World Cup, for the next 32 years (although they qualified in 1974 but they didn’t leave the group stage and didn’t even score a single goal), until John Safran consulted another witch doctor in his show John Safran vs. Gods and they eventually qualified for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup.
Arsenal.
The Gunners are said to have been jinxed by no other team than Barcelona. In 2010, Barcelona knocked out Arsenal in the knockout stages and ever since then, they have never progressed beyond the round of 16 since then. They have been beaten by Barcelona (2011), Milan (2012), Bayern Munich (2013, 2014), Monaco (2015), Barcelona (2016) and Bayern Munich (2017).
S.L. Benfica.
Former Hungary footballer Bela Guttmann had joined the club as a coach and he won the league twice, the Portugese Cup once and the European Cup twice. On the back of these successes he had approached the board for a raise but he was not only turned down but was removed as manager. He swore: “You win never be European champions again”. The rest as they say is history as Benfica has since then been in five European Cup finals and three UEFA cup/UEFA Europa League finals since that time and they have lost all eight.
Bayer Leverkusen.
They were nicknamed “Neverkusen” or “Vizekusen” which means “Second” and also they are known as “Bridesmaid of Europe”. This is of their run of reaching European competitions finals and always coming up short. They were runners up in the Bundesliga from 1998 to 2000 and the 2001-2002 and until date they have not won the league.
Curse of Ramsey.
The press has even helped in spreading this rumor as they mentioned that each time he eventually scores a goal (which is rare) a celebrity dies or a popular person. When he scored on the 1st of May, 2011 in Arsenal’s win over Manchester United, Osama Bin Laden died on the 2nd of May, 2011. That same year October 2 he scored against Spurs and though they lost, 3 days later Steve Jobs died. 19 October that same year he scores and the next day and Gadaffi dies. He scores on the day Whitney Houston dies, same as when Paul Walker died. The list goes on.
They may just be superstition but then they could be …
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