The Jersy Jinx
Check my original post here on Sprtshub
Football today has grown beyond many bounds. A lot of things today now determine the outcome of football matches, beyond the physicality, technicality and even skills.
A field of science that has tricked into football and has in a long way affected the round leather game is Psychology.
Literally speaking, psychology is the study of human thinking, so to speak. It has to do with the mind and how it thinks.
Today, football clubs apart from recruiting coaches, managers, trainers, physios now also recruit Psychologists to help with the mental health of players.
Apart from the fact that the people help the mental health of the players, another form of psychology that comes into play is the "thinking" of players and supporters about some things which they believe in. One of such thing is the colour of their team's Jersey.
At the just-concluded Total African Cup of Nations in Egypt where Algeria triumph over the whole of Africa, their semifinal counterparts my beloved Nigeria lost out 2-1 with a last-minute striker, courtesy of Manchester City's Riyadh Mahrez's free-kick. What the goalkeeper was doing hiding behind the wall that night is a topic for another day.
Prior to the match, a lot of Nigerian fans had come out to talk against the choice of the plain dark green Jersey that was eventually worn by the Super Eagles. The fans had the belief that the jersey meant bad luck and putting it on meant Nigeria was going to lose that match. It would be recollected that it was the same Jersey they wore in the final group game against Madagascar when they lost 2-1.
It was inevitable for Nigeria not to wear the green Jersey though as Algeria who were technically the home side on the night originally wear white as their first colour or perhaps, they had the option of choosing first, the colour of their Jersey. So, there was no way Nigeria could have also worn the white colour.
After the tournament, a big wig in the Technical department of the Nigerian Football Governing Body, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) also came out to speak about the matter. He said that the federation and kit makers should look to change that Jersey. First, because it doesn't really represent the real Nigerian Green. Secondly, it has been tagged as bad luck by fans.
I remember also as an Arsenal fan, I dreaded and still dread when we put on that yellow away Jersey. The jersey for me doesn't just come with the "Arsenal" vibe and we tend to perform badly in such games. Although, not always true but most times so.
Not just that, I remember that most times when Barcelona put on their away lemon coloured Jersey, a lot of their fans whom we see games together always lament about how the jersey is bad luck and they don't want it. an example that readily comes to mind is the 4-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of the semifinals in last season's Champions League where they wore this same jersey. This is just one out of the numerous number of games they have played with this same jersey.
The kind of thinking I believe is not one that resides only in the fans but also the players. I remember a Nigerian ex-international also mentioned that during their days and even at his club side, they always dreaded putting on some jerseys which they believed didn't bring good luck.
The most coincidental thing about all these is that, in such games, those teams tend not to do very well or perform but not up to the level expected. Either it's a scrappy win or a loss or a painful draw and the likes.
My question for the community, do you hold such beliefs or do you think such affects and should affect teams' performances?