Ghana Defender Who Missed 2014 World Cup Through Injury Believes Black Magic Exists in Football

• Ghanaian defender Jerry Akaminko insists black magic, commonly known as juju, exists in football
• The former Eskisehispor player missed the 2014 World Cup after picking an injury during a pre-tournament friendly against Holland
• Jerry Akaminko played a key role during the qualifiers, starring in the games against Egypt in the play-offs

Ghana defender Jerry Akaminko believes black magic, popularly known as juju, is common in football.

The 34-year-old painfully missed the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after picking a horrific injury in a pre-tournament friendly against the Netherlands.

Akaminko, who starred during the World Cup qualifiers, disclosed that players who perform such rituals before games do it secretly.

"Whatever has a name exist," he said in an interview with Dan Kwaku Yeboah TV as quoted by Ghanaweb. "Even if the person has done such a thing, they won't tell you," he added.

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"There is no one who will do it plain, they do it secretly," he added.

Akaminko was arguably Ghana's best defender at that time, but injury ruled him out of a dream World Cup in Brazil.

The then Eskisehispor player was on the radar of several clubs, including Liverpool and French giants Marseille.

"I was told Liverpool and Marseille were keeping tabs on me before the World Cup because they had sent scouts to watch my games on numerous occasions," he said.

"Andre Ayew also told me about the interest from Marseille and revealed that their president was a huge fan of me and couldn't stop talking about me. Fenerbache made an offer of 8 million Euros but the club delayed it because they could make more after the World Cup."

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Jerry Akaminko spent a long time on the sidelines and returned later to rejoin his Eskisehirspor teammates in Turkey.

Ghana were knocked out of the World Cup in Brazil after the first round.

Laryea Kingston opens up on exclusion from 2010 World Cup team

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that former Ghana international Laryea Kingston has shed light on missing out on the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa.

Kingston, a key member of the Black Stars, was inexplicably omitted from the 23-man squad for the global showpiece by head coach Milovan Rajevac.

Taking a trip down memory to recollect how he was seemingly denied a chance of representing Ghana at the quadrennial tournament, Kingston confessed the shock omission dealt a huge blow to his career.