Chiellini revived an old legend. He admitted that he cursed Saku before the decisive penalty

Anything for the team! This has been the motto of Italian cunning and recent European champion Giorgio Chiellini throughout his career. To win the continent’s most valuable international trophy, he didn’t even hesitate to curse his opponent 17 years his junior. In doing so, he brought to mind the ancient legend of the Kiricocho fan.

We all remember it vividly:: the fifth penalty shoot-out in the Euro final, only 19-year-old Bukayo Saka has to convert, only for the tournament’s best player Gianluigi Donnarumma to pull off a great save and Italy wins.

But what happened seconds earlier?

Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini has now confirmed for ESPN what the TV footage partly showed. Just as the Arsenal midfielder kicked the ball, he shouted: “Kiricocho!”

What does that word mean? It is called, especially in South America, as a curse on the opponent. God knows if this is what helped Chiellini to the great Italian triumph.

Juan Carlos Kiricocho was reportedly a die-hard supporter of the Argentine team Estudiantes de la Plata in the 1980s. So avid, in fact, that he sometimes came to watch them train.

But the team’s coach, Carlos Bilardo, noted the strange injuries his charges would suffer whenever Kiricocho came into the stands. According to legend, that’s why Bilardo sent this fan to the training sessions of the club’s rival.

“Kiricocho was a kid from La Plata. He was always with us. Since 1982, when we became champions, we made him our mascot,” Bilardo once revealed. “But then I never saw him again and when I asked about him a few years later, nobody knew anything about him.”

Even so, the legend managed to spread throughout the football world, and so today some players try their luck when they shout Kirico’s name to curse their opponents.

Take Giorgio Chiellini.

And as he himself has shown, there may be something to this legend after all..

Source: Goal