Like Palace four seasons ago, Getafe began with seven defeats before a motivational video and returning hero led a revival
Giovanni Trapattoni carried a battle of holy water with him, blessed by the sister who actually was his sister. In 2009 the Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino hiked to Montserrat to visit the black virgin, enlisting her help in avoiding relegation, salvation delivered soon after. And Raúl Madero, the Argentinian national team doctor, twice visited the wailing wall. The first time, before the 1986 World Cup, he asked for them to be champions; when he went back four years later, he thought that would be pushing it, so requested runners-up. True story, and when it comes to football you’ll try anything. Sometimes it even works.
Some turn to God, others turn their back on Him. Coco Basile tells of the priest he kicked out of the San Lorenzo dressing room. His name was Jorge, a fan who loved his team and prayed with them; he was also a jinx, Basile said. Fifteen years later, Jorge became Pope Francis. Meanwhile, up in A Coruña, Deportivo have been known to cast a pagan’s spell,: “Beelzebub’s fire, burning corpses and farts from infernal bottoms” thrown into a bubbling cauldron. Like many rituals, it doesn’t always work, but you’ve got to have something to turn to: some source of solace or inspiration, even if it’s not so much Papa Francisco as Pape Souaré, more Delaney than divine.
