Regarding the quirks of professional players, let's start with Goyetchea's famous "disarming incident":
When Argentina reached the World Cup final in 1990, it had experienced two penalty shootouts – perhaps in the eyes of the Argentine goalkeeper Goyechea at the time, the luck of the "Pampas Eagles" came from his soak of urine... In the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup, Argentina and Yugoslavia fought fiercely for 120 minutes and still exchanged blanks, and penalty shootouts were inevitable. At this time, some Argentine players blocked Goyetchea in the middle circle, and the latter actually took off his pants on the court! 'It was a superstition that came out of necessity because the players weren't allowed to leave the pitch, so my only thought was to get pee out on the pitch.'
Afterwards, Goyetia recalled. Of course, he also admitted that it would calm him down by taking advantage of the penalty shootout. After defeating Yugoslavia on penalties, Goyetchea also made "stadium convenience" a necessary ritual before the "twelve-yard showdown" - in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, Goyetia did the same, and after the convenience, he bravely played to help Argentina defeat Italy in the penalty shootout.
▲ Goyethija saved a penalty in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup
Three years later, Goyetchea moved the ceremony to the Copa America. Coincidentally, Argentina faced penalty shootouts in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, while Goyetchea was still brave enough to help the Pampas Eagles beat Brazil and Colombia despite the convenience. In the end, Argentina won the 1993 Copa America, and Goyetia was "enshrined".
As with Goyetchea's obsession with the breaker, Liverpool defender Colo Toure is always used to being the last to step onto the pitch. In the 2009 Champions League, in the Arsenal and Roma match, Colo Toure was choked by Willian Galla: due to the delay in the game due to the injury at halftime, Gala failed to return to the field before the start of the second half, which was good, Colo Toure was also completely committed to his habits, Arsenal had to play with Roma in the absence of two people.
Thomas Rosicky's quirks are more egotistical to his own — he doesn't sing the national anthem out loud during national team matches. The reason is simple: once when he sang loudly on a whim, the Czech team lost. Similar to him is Mario Gomez, who has since copied the act of not singing the national anthem after scoring a goal in a youth national match.
There are those who sing, and those who listen to songs. John Terry, who is leaving Chelsea this summer, listens to the same Arthur Kid CD before each race starts, and then he parks his car in his own spot. You know, before losing to Barcelona in a given year, he hadn't changed his leggings for nearly a decade. As Terry's former teammate, Peter Cech had a beard at Euro 2012. During that tournament, the czech team agreed not to shave, and even if Cech's wife told him that it was too ugly, the Czech national gate was still going its own way.
▲ Cech with a beard at Euro 2012
As a "ball saint", John Cruyff also has his own habits. While playing for Ajax, he would pat goalkeeper Barrs on the stomach before each game started, then he would walk into the pitch and spit gum on the opposing half. Gary Reinker's attention to details as a cross-timer star focuses mainly on the outside of the game: during the pre-match warm-up, Reinkel never practices shooting because he is afraid of wasting goals; and at halftime, if he fails to score in the first half, he will definitely change a shirt to get lucky's favor.
In order to enhance the psychological cues, Philip Inzaghi also fought: before each game, he would eat a box of children's cookies, but he would not sweep away, but deliberately left two pieces. Pepe Reina, who plays for Napoli, is not gluttonous and loves to refuel. Once upon a time, whether he needed to refuel or not, he would drive the car to the same gas station before the race and fill up the tank.
Rakitic in the locker room
Barcelona are still breaking their own consecutive unbeaten record, and Ivan Rakitic still maintains the habit of tying his left foot, wearing left socks and left shoes before the game. Oh yes, every time he stepped on the turf, the first thing he landed on was his right foot. He has similar habits to the German veteran Klose, whether on the field or out, he is used to using his right foot to open the way. Spanish striker Negredo admits that as long as he scores in one game, he will still be wearing the same shirt for the next game – of course, this dress can only be washed by himself.