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FLOS’ FIVE: Sports Craziest Superstitions

In the world of sports, we’ve seen it again and again. A footballer hopping onto the field on one foot, sports stars wearing a particular pair of underwear which they dub as their ‘lucky charm’, or athletes performing a series of obsessional pre-match rituals. There is a myriad of examples to recall. The first that comes to mind occurred in 1998, where Lauren Blanc during France’s victorious World Cup campaign would begin each game by kissing the head of goalkeeper Fabian Barthez. Or do you remember the rather ridiculous ritual of Johan Cruyff slapping his then-Ajax teammate and goalkeeper Gert Bals in the stomach, before walking over to the opposition half of the field and spitting his chewing gum toward their goal. Even more recently, in 2008, we witnessed the coaches of a Zimbabwean football team send their players to the famous Zambezi River to cleanse themselves of evil spirits, in a bid to cure the team of a bad string of losses. Time and time again, we have seen it all.

You wouldn’t think the gap between superstitions and obsessive-compulsive disorders was so thin, but over time, many have managed to blur the lines between weird acts and explicitly crazy routines. Adding faith to their hard work, many sports figures have fallen into questionable practices and superstitions, believing these acts put them in a better position to win every time. 

From Patrice Evra to Serena Williams, red shirts to shooting stars, some of your sporting favourites are guilty of some pretty strange pre-game habits. In today’s FLOS’ FIVE, we’re running you through our list of wacky sports superstitions you wouldn’t believe. Sit tight!

1. Raymond Domenech 

Coaches over time have resorted to some pretty wild tactics when it comes to selecting players to feature on their squad list. Whilst most coaches consult a few neutral minds to ensure they have made the right choice, others use unconventional measures to go the extra mile; but none has taken squad selection as far as former France coach, Raymond Domenech. 

In what can only be described as a game plan from out of this world, Raymond Domenech relied on zodiac signs to spot his shooting stars.

Ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the French coach, probably uniquely and definitely bizarrely, admitted that his team selection was influenced by astrology. Domenech claimed he had problems with Robert Pires because the Arsenal winger’s star sign was a Scorpio, and always worked against Domenech’s interests.

Though Domenech, in his book, would later deny he selected players on the basis of the zodiac sign, he was reported to have said that all parameters have to be considered, including, of course, astrology.

2. Patrice Evra and His Pre-match Poultry Routine

“I played with chicken in my boots for four months,” Evra proclaimed to The Players’ Tribune in an interview in July 2019. The former Le Blue left-back, famous for his time at Monaco and Manchester United respectively, made what appeared a shocking revelation to the media in the summer of 2019. 

To many football faithful, playing through injuries with the assistance of painkillers was a part of the journey as a professional footballer. But playing with a piece of chicken in your socks was on a level unseen by many.

Telling his story, the former Juventus star had sustained an injury in an international fixture, but his then-manager at Monaco Didier Deschamps needed him to play despite the pain. Then came this ‘genius idea’ from one of the club staff, ‘Why don’t you just go old school? Just sliding a chicken into your boot would help’.

Surprisingly Evra’s chicken-assisted performances were so impressive that Manchester United eventually came calling and brought him from the Ligue 1 side to the Premier League, where he won five league titles, three League Cups, and a Champions League.

3. Italian National Team and Gianluca Vialli

“Italy forget Vialli when they leave for England!” This was one of Sky Sports’ biggest news headlines ahead of the Euro 2020 final on July 10, 2021. Italy left their training base in Florence for England but they nearly left Gianluca Vialli behind – the article read further.

It was later revealed to be a superstitious routine the Italian had repeated throughout the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament entirely on purpose. But how did this bizarre act come about?

Ahead of their opening game of the Euro 2020 tournament, the Italian team bus drove off (accidentally) without Roberto Mancini’s then-trusted assistant coach, Gianluca Vialli, at the Coverciano ground. Upon realizing Vialli was missing, the bus made a quick U-turn and returned to pick him up. This fixture, against Turkey, ended in a 3-0 victory for the Azzurris and since then, Vialli insisted that they repeat the pattern every time the bus left the camp. Ahead of each of Italy’s remaining games, as the team prepared to depart, the coach driver would close the doors without Vialli, drive a few metres and then stop to pick up the Chelsea legend. The late Gianluca, who sadly lost his battle with cancer in January 2023, fast became a beloved, good-luck symbol of Italian resilience at Euro 2020. Whether it was Vialli’s repeated disappearing act that did it will forever remain a mystery, but ultimately the Italians clinched the trophy at Wembley stadium that July, putting an end to their 33-year wait for a European Championship.

4. Tiger Woods and his red shirts

Revered as the best golfer to ever play the sport, unpacking the greatness of Tiger Woods includes unraveling the mystery behind his infamous stash of red shirts, which he dons on the final day of every tournament, whether it be a Major or an ordinary PGA Tour event. 

Red typically is seen as a sign of danger, so it was first suggested that Woods wore red to symbolise the impending danger to his competitors who would spend the day watching him charge up the leaderboard. It turns out the colour had a simpler meaning. Woods in an interview with the US Sun spoke about his decision to religiously ways wear his red shirt:

“I’ve worn red ever since my college days basically, or junior golf days – big events on the last day. I just stuck with it out of superstition and it worked, [so]I came out here and I continued it.

“I just happened to choose a school that actually was red, and we wore red on our final day of events. So it worked out. I’ve had a few wins wearing red, and it’s not going to change.”

A supremely talented player, Woods has gone on to win 82 titles (and counting), wearing his notorious red shirt.

The popular saying “if it works, tennis players stick with it” may appear as a regular quote to many, but to tennis stars like Serena Williams, it wasn’t just a saying, it was a reality throughout her career.

5. Serena Williams and her Stinky pair of Socks During a Tournament

Tennis players are some of the most superstitious athletes one could ever imagine. Rafael Nadal is known to obsessively arrange his water bottles at the court’s edge. Retired Andre Agassi was reported to have stopped wearing his underwear to his matches. Yet no list of superstitious tennis players would be complete without Serena Williams.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner, during tennis tournaments, had a couple of foot-centric tics she stuck to throughout her illustrious career, not least her shoe-lace protocol.

Like most sports, tennis has its own unique footwear designed for optimal performance. Truth is superstars like Serena wear specially engineered shoes designed to provide an optimal blend of traction, support, and ease whilst they play. Like casual shoes, tennis shoes use laces to ensure a snug fit. If a shoe comes unlaced during a match, the player risks both injury and distraction. But for Serena, laces are not functional elements on a shoe to guarantee a secure fit. For Serena, laces are a superstition. 

It’s not certain when it began, but at some point in her career, William developed an obsessive habit of tying her shoes in a particular way before every match. So ingrained is Serena in this shoe-lacing habit that in the past, she’s even chalked up certain losses to not tying her shoes correctly, sayingI’m not losing because I didn’t play well; I lost because I didn’t tie my shoe the right way.

It even gets crazier when you hear that Serena isn’t only invested in her lace-tying but she has other foot-related superstitions too. For example, during her playing career, Serena would bring her shower sandals to the court with her before every match. The climax of Serena’s foot-related superstitions appears to be a somewhat stinky one,  regarding the socks she wears at tournaments. So long as Williams is winning, she continues to wear the same pair of unwashed socks until the end of the tournament. Make of that what you will.

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