Our generation’s wildest curse theory on internet is
the Kardashian curse that claims individuals experience declines in career or
personal life after romantic relationships with members of the
Kardashian-Jenner family. In my opinion, it is just a hoax and curse theories
have always floated around, with little to no substantial proof. However, in
the world of sports too there have been numerous curse theories and urban
legends, football is not an exception. Whether it be the curse of Chelsea’s
jersey no. 9 or Manchester United jersey no. 7 or Mbappe curse, a viral
football narrative focused on Kylian Mbappe being the reason for the failure to
win the UEFA Champions League by the club he plays for, these narratives and
theories make sports interesting to watch, especially when one is waiting for
the curse to be broken. Nonetheless, there are two cases, which have boggled my
mind. Take a look.
Curse of El Cilindro
Rivalries among football clubs are common but the
story which I am going to narrate will make you think to what extend this
bitterness, jealousy and hatred can go. In Argentina, the Racing
Club won the Intercontinental Cup in 1967; fans of their fierce local
rival Independiente broke
into the El Cilindro, the ground of Racing Club and allegedly
buried the corpses of seven black cats around the grounds to hex the club into
eternal bad luck. It resulted in Racing losing numerous
matches leading to trophy and title drought. After hearing about the rumours
and witnessing series of misfortunes, the fans of the club performed exorcism
but to no avail and in 1980, coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo had the pitch dug up to
find the cats but workers only found six skeletons. In 1983, the club was
relegated to second division and in 1999, it filed for bankruptcy. Everything
changed in 2001, when during its stadium renovations; the final seventh cat
skeleton was uncovered. That same year, Racing Club won the
league championship title, ultimately breaking the 34 years old curse to rest.
My sceptical mind made to do a little bit of internet
search. The story seems to change every time I read. It is true that they dug
the stadium but the exact year varies. In some version, it is not even cats,
but frogs and in some version, to neutralise the curse, seven toads were
buried. I do not know whether to call it a placebo effect, psychological play
or their eventual success was due to upgradation in football facilities,
training and coaching skills. Anyway, whatever the actual story of the curse
is, El Cilindro is one of the most unexplainable mysteries in the football
history.
The Curse of Béla Guttmann
Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly
known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal,
that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They have won the UEFA
Champions League (then known as European Cup) back
to back, 1960-62. However, after 1962, the club has reached eight major
European finals but lost every single one. Why?
In the early 1960s, Benfica was the most
formidable team in Europe. It was led by the Hungarian manager Béla
Guttmann, they won back-to-back European Cups (now the UEFA Champions League).
They famously defeated Barcelona 3-2 in 1961 and a legendary Real Madrid side
5-3 in 1962. After this monumental success, Guttmann approached the Benfica
board of directors and asked for a salary increase and a title bonus, which was
well deserved. However, the club's president flatly refused. Furious at the
disrespect, Guttmann packed his bags and quit on the spot. As he stormed out of
the club doors in 1962, he allegedly cursed,
“Not in a hundred years from now
will Benfica ever be European Champions again!”
What initially seemed like an angry rant turned into a
terrifying reality. Benfica remained highly dominant domestically,
but every time they reached a major continental final, things went disastrously
wrong. After witnessing series of failures, the club took the curse so
seriously that ahead of the 1990 European Cup final played in Vienna (where
Guttmann was buried), Portuguese football legend Eusébio whom
Guttmann had once coached visited his grave. Eusébio knelt down and wept,
begging the ghost of Guttmann for forgiveness and to lift the curse. Sadly, it didn't
work; Benfica lost the next day.
In 2014, the club even unveiled a massive bronze
statue of Béla Guttmann at their stadium holding his two European
cups, hoping a tribute would appease his spirit. But, the drought continues. As
per Guttmann's timeline, the hex will not expire until 2062.
