The Literal Magic of Football
Now, many of you reading this would take one look at the title of this article and jump to a conclusion, that this piece will reflect on some incredible moments that have occurred through the years when watching our beautiful game. For those who are hoping to read about that, this is not the place to find it. This is a writing on an actual football match that had accusations of witchcraft and juju.
We travel back and find our story in June 2003, the same year England won the rugby world cup, The Da Vinci Code was published and the US invaded Iraq. All pretty large and famous/infamous stories. What happened in Africa in June then may have flown under the radar for many readers. The Africa Cup of Nations, a prestigious tournament played across the continent, every nation has the opportunity to play and be crowned African champions every two years.
A group stage qualification game between Uganda and Rwanda is usually nothing to write home about, neither nation really impacting the footballing world. This year had a twist though, both nations were in group thirteen alongside Ghana, a more renowned footballing nation. However, Ghana finishing bottom of this group is not the big headline. The story of the qualifiers occurred on June 7th 2003, the second game between Uganda and Rwanda, the first game finishing in a 0-0 stalemate. Both teams knew a win was vital, a win would almost confirm progression to the championships.
One of the lead roles in this story is Rwandan goalkeeper Mohammed Mossi. During the game he was accused of putting a spell of witchcraft on his goal which was believed to prevent Uganda scoring. Mossi was seen lighting an unknown substance just behind his goal, this did not go unnoticed and the murmurs started to spread into controversy. Stories of magic potion on his gloves and witchcraft under the goal were the accusations made as Mossi made a string of miraculous saves.
The ‘witchcraft’ was also present in the first game between the two nations. Mossi was seen tying a black pouch to the back of his goal, and an incredible performance from the man between the sticks enraged the players and fans of Uganda alight. A small scuffle broke out before a Ugandan corner with players trying to remove the pouch. Eventually the referee demanded Mossi remove the pouch, the corner was cleared and as Rwanda broken up field Mossi simply retied the pouch to his goal and that was that. The game ended 0-0 and a lot was at stake in the return fixture.
It all seems a bit excessive looking back and even as an onlooker people may have been wondering, what on earth is going on? A number of the Ugandan players were so convinced of the juju Mossi had summoned that some players were attempting to rip the gloves off Mossi’s hands. One player even dropped to the floor behind the goal to try and dig up the curse Mossi had planted underneath. This attack on Mossi and his beliefs did not do anything to settle the issue though, a brawl broke out. Punches thrown everywhere, blood splattered over shirts, one player from the Ugandan bench even attacked a player with a boot by hitting him across the head leaving a gash with blood to pour out.
At this stage the police intervened, but not in a positive way. The police started assisting the Ugandan players and attacked the Rwandans before the referee instructed the players to leave the pitch. Negotiations were had to determine how they would proceed. The Rwandans were threatening to leave after the attacks, with Uganda being responsible for the brawl, because how can you prove the mythical powers were being used, Uganda would possibly have to forfeit the game. Eventually after about 30 minutes of negotiations the teams returned to the pitch to continue.
Ironically soon after the restart Jimmy Gatete, the man who had been attacked with the football boot, scored the only goal of the game for Rwanda with his head heavily bandaged up to stop the excessive bleeding. Post-match reports and interviews from Ugandan journalists and members of the national team mostly shifted the blame of the defeat on ‘psychological warfare and mind games’ to which Rwanda came out on top. This defeat to Rwanda actually rattled Ugandan head coach and Argentinian Pasculli so much he fled back to Buenos Aires claiming his mother was sick, he never returned and claimed he hadn’t seen anything like it at a football match, and could not continue working.
Rwanda then had one game left to play and it was against African football powerhouses Ghana. The Black Stars are a team to be feared, not just in Africa but over the world. Rwanda though only needed a draw to mathematically progress to the championships. Another Gatete goal and another fine display from Mossi had the Rwandans jumping for joy as a famous 1-0 win over Ghana sent the nation on their way to the Africa Cup of Nations.
In the 2004 rendition of the Africa Cup of Nations Rwanda did perform relatively well, a 2-1 defeat to host nation Tunisia was expected but a point against Guinea, thanks to a 93rd minute equaliser from Karim Kamanzi was reason for celebration. To further impress Saïd Makasi scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo seeing Rwanda end on four points missing out on the knockout stages by a solitary point.
Perhaps not the magical story of football you were expecting but an interesting story none the less. Accusations of magic or juju are not unheard of in African football. Arrests have been made for placing charms on the pitch and in the goals, showing how strong the belief of this kind of supernatural is. Many coaches and players believe in the magic but without concrete evidence there is not much anyone can really do about putting a little trinket behind a goal. Did Rwanda really rely on magic to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations? Perhaps we will never know, but it goes to show that sometimes those who believe strongly enough can achieve what they set out to do.
Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell
