WHERE MAGIC MEETS LOGIC....DOES JUJU WORK IN MODERN AFRICAN FOOTBALL?

Reviewing the issue of Black Magic in African Football as another AFCON Stands by, and argues it only for those who believe in it.

spectator daubed in a club's colours and white chalk markings carrying earthenware in the inner parameter, a player inexplicably refusing to shake hands with an opponent in a pre-kick-off ritual, a team official sprinkling concoction on the field before a game, a cat being dug from underneath a football pitch that had apparently been buried alive and footballers tying white bands to their wrists or waving spotless handkerchiefs while coming onto the turf. Others include two clubs involved in a football game withholding a player each from entering onto the pitch until they had seen the opponent budge, and teams taking a different route to the Pitch. Africa is a continent with a past steeped deep in the worship of ancestral and traditional. beings, and vestiges still remain centuries after foreigners introduced Christianity and Islam. Belief in the supernatural is hardly limited to our part of the planet. Elsewhere in the world - even in the sophisticated sphere of European football - petty superstitions still hold valid for many, clubs, coaches, players and fans alike. Consulting diviners and psychics who operate with tarot cards and crystal balls are still in vogue, and many are those who care to indulge those services.

Players personal omens abound too; Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has an incredible sequence of queer, uncanny rituals he follows prior to every one of his club’s games at Anfield, some of which he carries out right on the pitch. Gary Neville is known to have always donned the same set of clothing and aftershave when results were going his Manchester United’s way. Giovanni Trapattoni infamously sprinkled 'holy water' on the field when he was in charge of the Italian national team.
Mario Gomez's fetish with the number three, and Laurent Blanc and Fabian Barthez's little kiss-on-the-pate act at France '98 Etc..........
In conclusion, one can say juju clearly is a powerful, inevitable co-efficient wherever football is played on the continent. Although the power it undoubtedly wields -whether emotional or otherwise - can never be underestimated, its potency can only be complemented, and in most cases, overcome by sheer hard work and physical ability.

Juju alone on its own would not get a team anywhere.

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below............

The ghanian head coach James Kwesi Appiah has claimed no team can be ignored at the Africa Cup of Nations ahead of Saturday's kick-off.

The 29th edition of Africa's continental championships opens in South Africa on Saturday with the host nation taking on Cape Verde Islands at Soccer City.

Ghana will play their first game on Sunday against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and while Appiah's side seem the obvious favourite to top Group B, the head coach remains convinced the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will tough from start to finish.

"I believe that it's going to be very competitive," Appiah said.

"We're going to do our best but saying that there's no way you can underrate any team in this competition.

Just a few days to the Competition were are you making you cash for these period

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