Giorgio Chiellini: I Cursed Bukayo Saka!

Jul 14, 2021 - 10:23 am

By Kurt Buckerfield

Giorgio Chiellini: I Cursed Bukayo Saka!

Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini has revealed what he did to "curse" Bukayo Saka before he stepped up to take his penalty for England in the 2020 UEFA European Championship final.

The 19-year-old Arsenal star saw his effort from 12 yards saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma in their shootout loss to the Azzurri in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday, with Robert Mancini's men winning 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the end of the 120 minutes.

A video from UEFA has since emerged appearing to show veteran centre-back Chiellini shouting "Kiricocho", known to some to be a curse of sorts, towards Saka moments before he struck his penalty.

After this was picked up by ESPN, the Juventus defender was asked if he really did yell that word at Saka, with the 36-year-old responding: "I confirm everything! Kiricocho!"

— ESPN Argentina (@ESPNArgentina) July 12, 2021

The story dates to the 1980s, when a young supporter of Estudiantes de la Plata in Argentina began to attend some of the club's training sessions. Then-coach Carlos Bilardo was believed to notice his players seemed to get injured whenever the boy, named Juan Carlos "Kiricocho", was around.

The legend goes that coach Bilardo then started to send "Kiricocho" to watch the training sessions of Estudiantes' rivals hoping that his presence would bring about back luck for their opponents.