Cruz Azul - Mexico's secret weapon

Football is all about taking your chances and in the big games getting a bit of luck. The World Cup is the biggest stage for football and that comes with extremes amount of pressure. Many footballers have their own little superstitions, it can be saying a pray or what foot you step on to the pitch with first. Fans have also been known for their superstitions. They're some strange ones out there but Mexico seem to have found a working one.

Mexico believe that one of their club sides, Cruz Azul, is cursed. They've gone from being the equivalent of Manchester United to not winning a trophy in over 20 years. Mexican's believe that fans seen supporting or wearing a Cruz Azul jersey is destined for failure. This has prompted Mexico fans to give out Cruz Azul jerseys throughout the tournament, to give teams "bad luck".

What ever you believe this tactic seems to be working. A man was spotted in the Argentina crowd wearing a Cruz Azul jersey when they lost 3-0 to Croatia. Before Mexico played Germany, a German fans were "fooled" into wearing the jersey, and as we know Mexico came out 1-0 winners in that game and Germany finished bottom of the group. They did it again when they played South Korea as seen above. They won that game 2-1 and was a big part of them progressing to the round of sixteen.

Mexico also believe that their national team is cursed. In the last seven World Cups they've made it out of the group stages but then gone out in the round of sixteen everytime. Mexican fans will be looking for naive Brazil fans to pass on the Cruz Azul jersey and the bad luck that supposably comes with it.

Cruz Azul are one of the most successful clubs in the world. They've won numerous league titles and their equivelent to the Champions League. However, they've gone over 20 years without a title. It's not the case that they've just turned into a bad team. They get to finals but always fall at the final hurdle. Since 2008 they've made it to four finals and lost them all.

The curse is thought to have start in the 1997 league final. A Cruz Azul player was hit in the head and had blood pouring down his face. A penalty was awarded for the incedent and the player stepped up to take it. Despite protests from the ref the player refused to wipe the blood off. This blood is believed to be "cursesd blood" and Cruz Azul have suffered ever since.

As seen above Cruz Azul fans have gone down every possible avenue to remove this curse. Including drafting in a "witch" to see if see can help. Cruz Azul finished sixth in the table this season and so the curse goes on. In Mexico losing in a final or a big game is referred to as "pulling a Cruz Azul" and Mexicans will continue to give out their jerseys in Russia.