A former veteran in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Taiwo Oloyede has described as a case of mere ‘psychological tactics,’ the recent allegation raised by Super Eagles’ coach, Eric Chelle about voodoo used by DR Congo against the Nigerian team, Sports247 reports.
Oloyede, who played as a midfielder for Stationary Stores and Julius Berger FC during his active days, stressed that Chelle only allowed himself to be distracted by pranks used by The Leopards’ officials in order to upset him and gain an advantage over Nigeria.
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Oloyede stated as much while speaking during ‘Hot Seat’ segment on Inside Naija Sports, a live streaming programme which starts at 2:15pm every Friday on YouTube, from the studio of Sports247 Naija.
The fomer domestic league star, who enjoyed invitations to the junior and senior national teams during his heyday, added that he was familiar with such antics during his days with Stores FC.
He recalled, “It’s just a matter of psychology. Before I joined Stores, I also used to say they were using juju; because their players always entered the field with white handkerchiefs.
“However, I later found out that those hankys were just for psychological effect. What we used to put in them usually was ordinary dusting powder. It was when I got there that I knew this secret.”
He then recounted a particular encounter when Stores’ Lagos-based rivals, Julius Berger decided to copy his team and entered an FA Cup final replay with their own white handkerchiefs, but their antics backfired.
“I remember in 1990, when we were to replay the FA Cup for a second time against Julius Berger. We played the final three times, and for the third game, they decided to come with their own white handkerchiefs.
“I just told my teammates that we should surprise them. So, we decided that we should attack them immediately we kick off. As their keeper was still tying his handkerchief round his neck, I took a long shot and the ball was in the net.
“It was the fastest goal of that period at Onikan Stadium. So, that’s to tell you that the white hanky was just for fun,” Oloyede affirmed.
He equally recalled that he used to put up some antics before taking a penalty kick and reckoned that DR Congo did something similar to upset Chelle and finally defeat Nigeria via the lottery of spot kicks in the 2026 World Cup qualification play-offs final.
“Sometimes, when I wanted to play a penalty, I would first cover the ball with my hanky just to upset their goalkeeper. That’s why I say it was foolish of Chelle to cry about voodoo when the Super Eagles lost to DR Congo.
“But, I’m also sorry to say, it’s something that many Francophone countries in West Africa are used to … right from Benin Republic to Togo, Mali and Ivory Coast.
“They believe in it a lot and used to splash our dressing rooms with blood of animals when we went to play matches against them in their countries,” Oloyede pointed out.
However, the soft-spoken star, who is fondly called ‘Skippo’ by his admirers, stressed that the Super Eagles simply lost to DR Congo because the players were not prepared for penalty kicks, not because they were charmed by voodoo.
“I believe that we simply lost because our team did not train well for penalties. In my days, if I played 12 penalties, I would hardly lose one.
“So, I believe that the water Chelle said he saw DR Congo’s official spraying to stop our penalty kicks was just psychology that they used to upset him.
“They actually started it by changing their keeper in the dying minute. All of that are psychological antics. It’s only poorly taken penalties that he can catch,” Oloyede surmised.
