One football concept that has continued to elicit confusion and debate is this: is there juju in football? Put differently, does juju work in football?

To comprehensively disect this discourse, I travelled from Lagos to Ibadan to have a chat with one of Africa’s most recognizable faces in football, particularly in coaching, Adegboye Onigbinde. I put the question to him: Is there juju in football? Onigbinde retorted in an emphatic yes. He gave examples but added that “juju does not take you far. What sees you through is your understanding of your opponent and then the ability of a coach to select the players who can interpret his match plan well”. He added, no matter the measure of drugs a non athlete took, it could only have taken a Ben Johnson to beat him”.

Two other former Nigerian players, Taribo West and Emeka Ezeugo equally confirmed in two separate interviews that there was juju in football. In fact, Taribo revealed how he used to travel to Mali and Senegal for football juju.

Indeed, Senegalese authorities never practically understood the working of February hence they agreed with CAF to stage the 1992 Nations Cup Finals in January. Had that Competition be held in February, the story would have been different.

Take a close look at this. Senegal almost caused a soccer sensation on February 7, 2000 in the Nations Cup cohosted by Ghana and Nigeria. It was a quarter final encounter and the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was the theatre of hostility. The more than 60, 000 Nigerian cheering fans were roundly awed when Khalilou Fadiga got the curtain raiser in the seventh minute. It was unthinkable.

There was pin -drop – silence in the stadium. The goal was scored by Fadiga on the seventh minute on February 7! Senegal fought like lions as they are called and held tenaciously to the lead till the 80th minute when substitute Julius Aghaghowa levelled for Nigeria. The game was dragged into extra time and it was still Aghoghowa who gave Nigeria victory. Senegal lost but registered her February wonder with a roar.

Meanwhile the game produced a hilarious but hypertensive drama. A Nigerian coach who also was an NFF and CAF member, Kashimao Laloko shouted over and again from his VIP stand, pointing that there was a juju in form of an egg right behind the Senegalese goalkeeper. When nobody cared to listen to him, Laloko broke protocol, went straight to the Senegal’s goal area and picked what looked like an egg. Minutes later, Aghaghowa got the leveller.

Few days later, I chased Laloko to his Pepsi Academy base at Agege Stadium. I asked him he had to go to field during play – an action abhorrent to football rules? He said: “I saw something and I did something. What I did saved my country. I have no question to answer”. CAF suspended Laloko but later lifted it.

Exactly two years after, in Mali 2002, Nigeria again faced Senegal in a Nations Cup semi final pairing on February 7! Just like the Lagos duel two years earlier, Senegal went up in Bamako through Papa Bouba Diop. Since their seventh minute lead in Lagos never produced any good result, Senegal changed style, played a barren first half draw and later moved on in the ninth minute of the second half (54th minute) for their goal. Seconds flew. Minutes passed. Just two minutes to go, Aghoghowa again, equalized. It was extra time and Senegal had the winner through Salif Diao. Nigeria had a penalty after Nwankwo Kanu was hacked down but Wilson Oruma who was coming from the bench hit the up right and Super Eagles lost 1- 2 to Senegal.

For the first time in their history, Senegal made it to the final of the African Nations Cup. It was a big achievement. They lost to Cameroon.

Senegal qualified for the Nations Cup final for the second time in Egypt and lost to Algeria. That game was played in July 2019, not February.

And this year, the final of the 2021 Nations Cup played in Cameroon in 2022 was played on February 6, a Sunday. Senegal truly masters the magic of February championships. Not surprisingly, Senegal inspired by Sadio Mane, struck African soccer gold.

If you consider that Senegal avenged her February 7, 2000 defeat by Nigeria also on February 7, 2002 in Mali., and now emerged the new African champions in Cameroon that denied her victory in 2002 on February 6, 2022 just as she punished Egypt on whose land she lost the diadem two years ago on same date, then you will appreciate the country’s bound with February. It is the same way Nigeria hardly loses on October 8!

By Ori Martins