When white means bad luck

Coach John Obuh's wards lost in white jersey in Cali

Where is Professor Sam Akpabot? May his soul rest in perfect peace. He had in one of his Tuesday columns in the Nigerian Tribune raised the veracity of using the white jersey in our various national teams when he was alive. Were he to be alive, one would have been waiting for tomorroww to read the psychologic and mystical interpretations of the loss and the mystical white jersey.

Since he died I can count where we had played with the white jersey and got the elimination plank hitting our head. Go check again, in the African Nations Cup, we were in white 11 times and on all the occasions we lost the particular matches. 

Some people may not believe in mythology in sports but I do think it surely exists. Sadly, I do not believe in luck when it comes to sports. Luck belongs to chances and probabilities. Sports belongs to the science clime. 

My conviction in sports and mythology is re-established by the 2-3 loss to France in Cali in the ongoing U-20 World Cup. Even as a young athlete, I used to wear and love the number 7 jersey. Until 1985 when my handball coach, Rasheed Sanusi (Yamgode) told me, try number 33. Matches or championships where I did not use the number 33 jersey until Istopped playing in 1999 came out sad. 

Certain players choose lucky jersey numbers and teams choose certain colours for their home and away kits based on their beliefs. The national teams (senior and cadet) have always been unlucky with white jerseys. I have followed the trend for close to three decades now and am so convinced beyond reasonable doubt about this.
As soon as I saw the Nigerians file out in Cali against France in white, I told the crowd of football friends, the "night is going to be long, nasty and end badly". Only one person asked why. I explained. My explanation drew ire and long arguments.

Many of them, really younger in all directions and magnitude, can't comprehend. Some threw verbal insults and light banters at me. As soon as the game was over, many of them resorted back to me to understand my earlier argument.
I recall, the only time the white jersey did not betray us, yes, in a match I watched, was in the final in Tunis in the 1994 African Nations cup final. An avuncular friend spoke to me on it that, "that jersey was not pure white as the present set of white jersey we use. That jersey has a rich design of green on it. Anytime we wear the plain white background jersey, we are usually doomed for the guilotine."