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Brazil doesn't need a psychologist to win the World Cup. A pissing dog would do just as well Brazil doesn't need a psychologist to win the World Cup. A pissing dog would do just as well
(about 2 months later)
Name: BiribaSpecies: Name: BiribaSpecies: Canis familiarisDates: 1940s-1950s?Claim to fame: Botafogo FC’s Lucky dogGo visit: Unknown
Canis familiarisDates: 1940s-1950s?Claim to In 1948, at a match between the reserves of Brazilian football teams of Botafogo and Bonsucesso, a stray dog invaded the pitch during a Botafogo attack. With Bonsucesso’s goalkeeper befuddled, the ball went in. Clearly, the dog was a portent and Botafogo’s superstitious president Carlito Rocha ordered that the canine attend subsequent games. “He would use the lucky dog for more than superstitious purposes,” writes Alex Bellos in his fabulous book Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life. “He would let it loose on the pitch when Botafogo needed to cool the game down, in order to break the rhythm of the opposition.”
fame: Botafogo FC’s Lucky dogGo visit: Unknown As the season progressed, Botafogo – with dog in tow – continued to win. Biriba (as he became known) received the same bonuses as the first-team players but also malicious threats from Botafogo’s rivals. In the warm-up before one notable game, Biriba lifted a leg on one of the Botafogo players. Botafogo won the match, spurning a ritual in which Biriba had to be coaxed to do the same on the same player before each subsequent game. “It cannot be conclusively proved that the ritual urination had no effect,” quips Bellos. Botafogo went on to win the Campeonato Carioca that year, the state championship forRio de Janeiro.
In 1948, Yesterday, the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Jonathan Watts revealed that Brazil’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has brought in a psychologist to focus the minds of the Brazilian national team ahead of this evening’s exciting quarter-final clash with Colombia. This might help, I suppose. But superstition is a powerful thing and I can’t help thinking that Scolari might have done just as well had he gone out into the favelas and found a stray mutt with a predilection for ritual pissing.
at a match between the reserves of Brazilian football teams of Botafogo and Bonsucesso, a stray dog Tale ends
invaded the pitch during a Botafogo attack. With Bonsucesso’s goalkeeper I have a couple of questions about Biriba. If you can help answer them, please leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter @WayOfThePanda.
befuddled, the ball went in. Clearly, the dog was a portent and Botafogo’s superstitious If there is a zoological specimen with a great story that you would like to see profiled, please contact Henry Nicholls @WayOfThePanda.
president Carlito Rocha ordered that the canine attend subsequent games. “He
would use the lucky dog for more than superstitious purposes,” writes Alex
Bellos in his fabulous book Futebol:
The Brazilian Way of Life. “He would let it loose on the pitch when
Botafogo needed to cool the game down, in order to break the rhythm of the
opposition.”
As the
season progressed, Botafogo – with dog in tow – continued to win. Biriba (as he
became known) received the same bonuses as the first-team players but also
malicious threats from Botafogo’s rivals. In the warm-up before one notable
game, Biriba lifted a leg on one of the Botafogo players. Botafogo won the
match, spurning a ritual in which Biriba had to be coaxed to do the same on the
same player before each subsequent game. “It cannot be conclusively proved that
the ritual urination had no effect,” quips Bellos. Botafogo went on to win the Campeonato
Carioca that year, the state
championship for Rio
de Janeiro.
Yesterday,
the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Jonathan Watts revealed
that Brazil’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has brought in a psychologist to
focus the minds of the Brazilian national team ahead of this evening’s exciting
quarter-final clash with Colombia. This might help, I suppose. But superstition
is a powerful thing and I can’t help thinking that Scolari might have done just
as well had he gone out into the favelas and found a stray mutt with a
predilection for ritual pissing.
Tale
ends
I have a
couple of questions about Biriba. If you can help answer them, please leave a
comment or send me a message on Twitter @WayOfThePanda.
If there
is a zoological specimen with a great story that you would like to see
profiled, please contact Henry Nicholls @WayOfThePanda.