Insane Sports Stories That Will Make You Believe In Curses

Sports players and fans alike are a superstitious bunch. As a result, every team that's gone a few years without a title is declared to be under some kind of "curse" or spell despite the fact that you know, in these precious games we all love dearly, there can only be one winner.

But then, there are the other curses, the real ones, the ones that are kind of hard to dismiss. Sportunes will be a hunting ground for those curses that are too bad to be a lie.

BENFICA AND BELA GUTTMANN

                       
                                
Bela Guttmann, was an influential soccer coach and a journeyman by nature who coached 23 different clubs during a 40-year coaching career. But the Hungarian had his greatest impact with Benfica in Portugal where, along with the star striker Eusebio, he took the club to triumphs in the European Cup in 1960 and 1961, first defeating Barcelona (3-2) and then Real Madrid (5-3). 

                      

The win against Barcelona was the first time any team other than Real Madrid had won the Cup.  After the triumph over Real Madrid in Amsterdam in 1962, Guttmann asked for a raise in pay and was denied. His contract was allowed to expire and he uttered those famous words: 

“In the next 100 years  Benfica will never be champions of Europe again without me.”

                      

Eusebio

Benfica won 13 league titles in 14 years following his departure but European success eluded them despite boasting Eusebio in attack and reaching three finals between 1963 and 1968.

Since Guttmann in 1962, Benfica has played in five European Cup finals (in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990) and two UEFA Cup/Europa League finals (in 1983 and this season) … losing all of them.

“Every year when Benfica plays in the Europe they try to get rid of the curse,” the Portuguese journalist Jose Carlos Soares told CNN. “Any time that Benfica plays near Guttmann’s grave, somebody will take flowers. It hasn’t worked.”

In the 1990 final,  Eusebio allegedly prayed at the late Guttmann's grave ahead of their match with AC Milan but it was to no avail as the Aquias lost 1-0 to continue their plight.

One final coincidence: their loss against Chelsea last week was in the same city that Guttmann invoked his famous curse — Amsterdam.

The weekend before the final, Benfica also let the Portuguese league title slip through its fingers on a late goal by Porto, much like Branislav Ivanovic’s looping header that gave Chelsea the Europa League title. Porto have gone ahead to win the title undefeated despite being 2nd to Benfica for most part of the season.

“I can’t explain it,” Benfica goalkeeper Artur said. “How can we explain it? There’s no logical reason why we’ve lost two such big games right at the end. We did what we had to do against Chelsea and we just lacked that little bit of luck.”