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Beckham's 'Goldenbuns' is AC Milan's 'lucky' charm

From four leaf clovers to a severed rabbit's foot, when it comes to lucky mascots reason and taste often go out of the window.

No more so than at AC Milan where one charm is being held responsible for the team's recent upturn in fortunes on the pitch: David Beckham's bottom.

Since Beckham's arrival at the San Siro, the England midfielder has started every game and scored his first goal in last weekend's demolition of Bologna.

But as he walked away after celebrating the goal, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo both stroked his left bum cheek.

This was apparently because they believe Beckham's posterior has as much to do with Milan's revival as his sweet right foot.

"Italy is a superstitious country, people touch things for luck," an AC Milan spokesperson told UK newspaper "The Sun."

"Now the players are doing the same thing with Becks' bottom. He is seen as lucky."

One English newspaper has even taken to calling him "Goldenbuns", a play on "Goldenballs", the pet name his wife Victoria uses and for which he is still good naturedly mocked when it emerged in the press.

Football has a long history of superstitions. Below are some of the strangest rituals:

Kissing Fabien Barthez's head
Barthez's big shiny pate became something of a totem for the French during the 1998 World Cup.

The ritual was always the same. Veteran defender Laurent Blanc would approach his eccentric goalkeeper before planting a kiss on the top of his head. The team insisted that Blanc maintained the tradition as Les Bleus reached the finals. The French ended up beating Brazil 3-0.

Beanie the Horse watches the action
With his blond hair, steely grimace and piercing stare, Stuart Pearce was known on the pitch for his hard tackling, no-nonsense ways.

Off it he's, well, a bit of a softy. Whilst in charge of Manchester City the former England defender started bringing a rather bizarre charm, placing it near the dug out so it could observe the action: Beanie, a cuddly woolen horse.

It didn't do him much good. He was fired later that season.

Blessing from a juju man
"Juju" men used to be a regular fixture at African football matches. These self-appointed holy men would bless or curse teams for money.

Even government ministers were seduced by them. When the Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations in 1992, the government claimed it was because the sports minister paid a "juju" man to bless the team.

But he angered them by refusing to pay up. The result? A hex that saw the team endure a miserable ten year losing streak.

Tired of defeat, the government begged the juju men for forgiveness, coughing up the $2000. Ivory Coast promptly qualified for the 2006 World Cup.

Invoking the power of the Virgin Mary
Take a look at Newcastle United's goalkeeper Shay Given before a match. If you look carefully you'll notice him dropping a bottle into the back of the goal.

No, not a bottle full of Gatorade but rather a small vial of Holy Water from Lourdes, France.

It was there that it is claimed the Virgin Mary appeared in 1858. It has since become a place of pilgrimage for the sick, drawn to the allegedly healing waters.
"I carry it in my kit bag and it goes everywhere with me," Given said back in 2002. At the time of writing, Given is still injury free.

If all else fails, urinate...
When Barry Fry, then Birmingham City's boss, watched his team lose another game, enough was enough.

For years the club had suffered from dismal form at their St Andrews ground in Birmingham, England, and had not won anything of note for decades.

The reason, fans and club officials feared, was a gypsy curse spat out at the club's owners when they evicted a band of travelers to make way for their new stadium.

Managers had tried and failed to lift the curse -- one even placed crucifixes in the floodlights, but it was Barry Fry who had the most ingenious method. He urinated in each corner of the ground. Birmingham City haven't won anything of note since.

Employing an Ecuadorian warlock
Tzamarenda Naychapi played a pivotal role in Ecuador's 2006 World Cup campaign.

The UK's Guardian newspaper described how Naychapi - a warlock who was described as a "witch doctor-cum-shaman-cum-priest-type-fella" - traveled to Germany before the World Cup to cast spells on all 12 stadiums, not to mention the pitch and the goals, in a bid to turn the gods in Ecuador's favor.

The South American minnows went on to shock both Costa Rica and Poland, qualifying for the second round for the first time in their history before losing to England 1-0.

But then again England had their own magical good luck charm to call upon. David Beckham scored the only goal. CNN


Owen injury jinx strikes again as Barton ruled

Michael Owen is facing a two-month lay-off after the Newcastle striker's injury jinx struck again during a 2-1 Premier League defeat at Manchester City.

The 29-year-old former England star, playing only his 62nd game for Newcastle since arriving from Real Madrid in a 16-million-pound transfer in August 2005, limped out of Wednesday evening's clash after nineteen minutes after landing awkwardly following a challenge by City debutant Nigel de Jong.

Owen, out of contract at St James's Park at the end of the season, left Eastlands on crutches and his injury was compounded by the loss in the second-half of Joey Barton with a foot injury.

A scan on Thursday morning confirmed that Barton had broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot. Newcastle estimated that he would be out of action for at least eight weeks.

Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear, who was awaiting an update on the severity of Owen's injury, admitted he could scarcely believe the extent of the club's current misfortune.

"We only have one fit striker in Andy Carroll. Obafemi Martins has been out for ten weeks and he has been sorely missed, while we thought Mark Viduka would be back a couple of weeks ago before he broke down again."

Kinnear went on to bemoan Newcastle's financial plight.

"The club owner, Mike Ashley, has lost two billion pounds of his fortune because of the credit crunch, so there is no money out there," he said.

"I'd dearly love to spend millions and I would love to do so, but I can see why people bottled this job because it's a tough job."

Owen's injury blow, which shattered his hopes of an England recall for next month's friendly in Spain, overshadowed a win for City that was secured by goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy prior to Carroll's late consolation.

Robinho, playing for the first time since his arrest on Tuesday over an allegation of serious sexual assault, teed up Wright-Phillips's opener and manager Mark Hughes praised the Brazilian for his performance.

He said: "I spoke to Robbie in the morning and he was very focused, looking ahead to the game and preparing as normal.

"After the conversation I had with him I had no qualms about putting him in because mentally he was in the right place and focused on the job in hand. He created the first goal with an intelligent ball and I thought his overall play was excellent."

Hughes, meanwhile, remains confident of securing the services of Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given and Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz before Monday's transfer deadline.

He said: "Our understanding of the situation is that Blackburn are not prepared to release a striker before they get a striker in.

"That's where we are at at the moment, but we're hoping that can be resolved. On occasions we lack a bit of a physical presence up front, so that's why we are trying to address that.

"I have also said for quite some time that we need an experienced keeper to complement the exceptionally talented keeper we have and the intention is still there to bring in an experienced keeper. Targets we have had for quite some time, we hope to conclude." AFP