Football Stars Disclosed Their Bizarre Habits
In football, coaches and players invest a lot into their routines to get the slightest edge on the pitch. This traditionally includes seeking the healthiest diets, trying to train as efficiently as possible, and developing the smartest playing strategies to maximize their chances of winning. But for some, getting an extra bit of luck also involves adhering to a number of rituals, and today we are going to disclose the most bizarre habits followed by football legends.
John Terry
The ex-captain of Chelsea is a grandmaster of superstitions. Terry once revealed that he accumulated more than 50 rituals during his career, and some of them are truly curious to know. For example, he avoided touching the ball while they were waiting for a match in a dressing room and used to tie tape around his socks exactly three times. Before games, Terry also parked his car in the same place, picked the same seat in their team bus, and listened to the same album of Usher on his way to the stadium. The ex-center-back even had a pair of ‘lucky’ shin pads that he wore for 10 seasons before ditching them after the defeat to Barcelona.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The holder of five Ballon d’Or awards also needs a bit of luck to shine on the field, so he always must be the last one to go out of the tunnel before playing a match. In addition, the Al Nassr star enters the pitch with his right foot first due to an old Portuguese tradition. Ronaldo is also known for posing on his tiptoes during team photos, and his unique free-kick stance has long become iconic. On top of everything else, the legendary striker never touches the trophies he is looking to win in the final matches, believing that this brings footballers bad luck.
There are many rumors about what Ronaldo does and what does not to make fortune smile upon him. But one thing is certain: GGBET betting on his matches is always a good idea since the majority of his deeds end in success, leading the team to victory.
Luis Suarez
Inter Miami’s striker makes our list for several reasons. First, Luis Suarez always wears a bandage on the right wrist wrapping it around his thumb, although he is known to have no injuries of the hand and fingers. The explanation is simple – the Uruguayan talent believes that the bandage brings him good luck and protects him from bad omens.
What’s more, Suarez devotes every goal to his family – a wife and three children – that’s why he always kisses his wrist, ring finger, thumb, forefinger, and middle finger after a successful shot. He even has a neck tattoo with his famous three-finger gesture, which represents his three children, and another tattoo for his wife placed on his ring finger.
Raymond Domenech
Superstitions also extend to football managers, and Raymond Domenech, a former French national coach, is the brightest example. Astrology played an important role in his squad selection, so he refused to pick Scorpios for the national team from 2006 to 2010. Domenech also believed that Leos appeared to be bad defenders, claiming “I have got my gun ready every time there was a Leo in defense, cause I knew he’s going to show off at a certain point and cost us.”
Domenech called himself a very inquisitive person and mentioned that he studied astrology to learn more about human character. He was also surprised by the reaction of people: “Once I mentioned my hobby, people started thinking that I gaze into the crystal ball while wearing a magician’s hat on my head.”
Johan Cruyff
One of the greatest Dutch footballers ever dismissed the idea of having any pre-match rituals helping him to shoot goals, but he still had some of them in his early days at Ajax. So, Johan Cruyff slapped his goalkeeper Gert Bals on the belly before each game and then spit the chewing gum into the half of their opponents. In 1969, something terrible happened – he forgot his gum, and Milan crushed Ajax 4:1 in the European Cup Final. What a coincidence…
Pele
Even the best of the best may have a bad spell, and Pele was no exception. When played for Santos during the mid-1960s, the Brazilian legend had slumped badly, which put the staff members in a perplexed state. Pele himself was deeply worried about his performance and, after a long analysis, concluded that all the problems appeared when he had given his favorite ‘lucky’ T-shirt to a Santos fan. So, Pele hired a detective to find and get it back.
After an extensive search, the detective brought the T-shirt back, and the Brazilian superstar returned to his best form. However, the detective later admitted that he failed to find that ‘lucky’ T-shirt and just gave the one Pele had worn in the previous match. It’s all in our mind, that’s the whole point of superstitions and ‘lucky’ rituals.
