Chiellini confirms he ‘cursed’ Bukayo Saka before decisive penalty miss in EURO 2020 finals
The legend of Kiricocho has since spread throughout the football world with players now routinely using the word when they want to put a curse on their opponentsN
Sebastian Nkrumah Listowell 
Italy’s captain Giorgio Chiellini has admitted he put a "curse" on Bukayo Saka before the Arsenal striker’s decisive penalty miss in Sunday's Euro 2020 final.
The Italy defender shouted the word just before the England teenager saw his spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma
Saka saw his spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, handing Italy the European title after the two teams drew 1-1 over 120 minutes.
Just before Saka took the kick, Chiellini screamed "Kiricocho!" – a word that's been used by footballers for decades to impart bad luck on the opposition.
Responding to a question from ESPN, Chiellini responded in Italian: “Hello Christian, I confirm everything! Kiricocho!”
A video from UEFA also clearly shows the veteran defender shouting the word just prior to Donnarumma's title-winning save on Saka.
Juan Carlos 'Kiricocho', or Quiricocho according to some versions of the story, was a hardcore supporter of Argentinian club Estudiantes de la Plata during the 1980s.
The fan even attended some of the club's training sessions, but Estudiantes head coach Carlos Bilardo began to notice that his players mysteriously seemed to get injured whenever Kiricocho was present.
Bilardo, as the legend goes, told Kiricocho to attend training sessions of Estudiantes' rivals, hoping to utilize his powers to help, rather than hurt his side.
"Kiricocho was a kid from La Plata who was always with us, and since that year we were champions in 1982, we adopted him as our mascot,"
"He was a good kid but then I didn't see him again. The last time I was coaching Estudiantes in 2003-04 I asked after him and nobody knew anything." Bilardo once remarked.
The legend of Kiricocho has since spread throughout the footballing world, with players now routinely using the word when they want to put a curse on their opponents.
So Giorgio Chiellini has indeed confirmed that it was the word ‘Kiricocho’ uttered by him which he believes to be a ‘curse’ placed on Bukayo Saka was the secret to the Azzuri clinching their second European Championship since 1968.
