Last Saturday evening my daughter and I were in Sergelstorg in the middle of Stockholm enjoying the various artworks which were part of the Nobel Week Lights. Suddenly I became aware of a group of young guys shouting, clapping, dancing and waving a red flag with a yellow star.
Ignoramus that I am, I had to ask which team had won a match.
Even in the maddest of moshpits, I have not seen such joy and exultation. Their happiness was very infectious.
There were Maroccan girls here too but their enthusiasm was slightly more restrained. I even ran into a homeless lady who is always there selling Situation Stockholm (our version of the Big Issue) at Skanstull who was ecstatically happy. We always exchange a few words when I buy the mag. I had no idea she was from Marocko. Marrakesh, she told me, next time I saw her.
Anyway, here’s a very enjoyable article from The Observer about the Argentinians and their enthusiasm and their superstitions. Difficult not to think of our very own @BingoLittle and the marvelous piece he wrote about Maradonna
So Bingo, do you have any cábalas?
What about the rest of you?
Any sporting superstitions?
How do you express your enthusiasm for your team?
A tattoo of your favourite player perhaps…..?
Here are the fans in full voice ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFyXvmx5Akg
We all know about soccer mums. Here’s the Argentinian Soccer Granny!
María Cristina Mariscotti!
“Abuela la la la la!”
Amy Booth was at our wedding.
Autograph hunters – form an orderly queue, please.
I’m a lost cause, Moose. I’ve no idea who Amy Booth is. Your rapier wit is wasted on a dullard like me!
Something to do with the Salvation Army?
Wife of the Everything I know Hitmaker?
She’s the very fine journalist who wrote that Observer piece up there.
Duh! I told you I was a dullard!
A very fine journalist indeed! You clearly are in with the In Crowd. She really gets under the skin of the Argentinian football culture. Not just a jobsworth who can’t tell a Malteser from a Malvina.
I will now do a search to find out what else she has written.
On Twittter she describes herself a Subtropical Goth.
She’s written for New Internationalist a few times, the Indy… Many different subjects. She’s incredibly talented and ought to be rich and famous but hey…
As his name has been taken in vain, perhaps we should page Senor @bingo-little , peace and blessings be upon him .
Hey there, Moose. I only have a couple of traditions/superstitions when it comes to playing football, and they’re both slightly embarrassing.
The first is to do with my socks. These days, football socks often come labelled with, respectively, an “L” and an “R” at the toe. Obviously, sometimes these get jumbled up in the wash with the effect that you can find yourself pulling out a pair and discovering that they’re (for example) both “Rs”. My superstition is that, while I will happily play in a pair of “Rs”, I will never play in two “Ls”, or even just with an “L” on my right foot. Two left feet feels like tempting fate.
The second tradition is one that’s developed since I hit my mid 30s, and that I’ve never actually admitted to anyone before. When we’re warming up before a game I will often go off on my own to have a stretch (always a wise idea at this stage in proceedings). When I do so, I’ll find a point of light in the distance: maybe on top of a building, or even a star in the sky if there’s no other option. I’ll look at that point of light, think for a moment about all the football I’ve played since I was a kid, about the game I’m about to play and I’ll say a little thank you and hope for a few more games still to come. I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and the games haven’t stopped coming just yet, so something must be working.
The final superstition is more of a practicality: I never, ever eat before playing. Cannot for the life of me play football on a full stomach.
Thanks to this BBC World article, I’ve just learnt a new Spanish word: albiceleste. It means “the Argentinian football team”.
There was a whole Argentinian barrio in Quatar during the World Cup.
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-64004340
The article describes some of the superstitions of the fans.
Gary Lineker’s superstition was an interesting one. He avoided scoring goals in training because he believed he had a finite number of goals allocated to him. Scoring a non-competitive goal “wasted” one of those goals. He also stopped playing all forms of football once he retired. No kickabouts, no charity games or testimonials – stopped totally.