After Neymar's injury, the Brazilian team may need all the magic it can get.Ã
Magic, or some other supernatural tendency, has hadà a long and weirdly intimate relationshipwith the game of soccer.
This isnââ¬â¢t simply a matter of the clairvoyant octopus or turtle that may have accurately predicted the outcome of a World Cup match or two.
When Ghanaââ¬â¢s national team, for instance, lost to Zambia in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Ghanaian coach Goran Stevanovic pointed toà deliberate acts of witchcraftà between his players as a plausible explanation for the upset. (Stevanovic, it should be said, was fired shortly afterward.)
So let us be disturbed, but not particularly surprised, by Helio Sillman, the Brazilian ââ¬Åblack-magic enthusiastâ⬠who, via a voodoo doll in his occult curio shop in northern Rio de Janeiro,à has plans toà ââ¬Åtake [Germanyââ¬â¢s] top player and bind his legs so he canââ¬â¢t run on the pitch,â⬠reports AFP.
Brazil will play Germany on Tuesday afternoon in whatââ¬â¢ll likely be aà riveting match, considering the near infallibility of both teams so far. In the past few weeks, Brazil has trounced Cameroon, Chile, Croatia and Mexico; Sillman has voodoo dolls of players from all four teams sitting in a bowl in his shop. The match results are proof, he says, that his magic works.
The Brazilian team may need all the magic it can get. Neymar, the teamââ¬â¢s golden player, apparently fell outside the domain of Sillmanââ¬â¢s protective aura when he was kneed in the back during Fridayââ¬â¢s quarterfinal match against Colombia, causing aà particularly nasty lumbar vertebra fractureà thatââ¬â¢ll keep him benched for the remainder of the World Cup.