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The Times of India
The Times of India
Sport
New York Times

Behind Argentina’s FIFA World Cup magic, an army of witches

Magalí Martínez knew something was off: The seemingly invincible star Lionel Messi was scuffling on the soccer pitch. To her, it looked like he was afflicted with a supernatural curse that has roots in different cultures across history, the “evil eye.”

So Martínez, a self-proclaimed witch and part-time babysitter, got to work. She focused intensely on Messi, began repeating a prayer and drizzled a bit of oil into a bowl of water. If the oil remained dispersed, he was safe. If it collected in the middle, he was cursed.

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