Italy Defender Says He Cursed Bukayo Saka as Youngster Took England's Decisive Penalty in Euro 2020

• Chiellini made headlines for several reasons during the Euro 2020 final
• The veteran defender’s image where he blatantly held Bukayo Saka by the collar went viral, eliciting mixed reactions from fans
• The defender now claims he used the infamous ‘Kiricocho’ curse to make Saka miss his penalty

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Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has cheekily confessed that he put a “curse” on Bukayo Saka before the youngster took his penalty in the Euro 2020 final.

Saka missed the decisive spot-kick as Italy sank England to be crowned Euro 2020 champions in a game which the Three Lions thoroughly dominated.

Chiellini is no stranger to superstitious acts in football and he admitted that as the 19-year old stepped up to take the penalty, he uttered the word Kiricocho'.

True enough, slow-motion footage of Italy players as Saka stepped up to take the penalty showed the experienced defender mouthing the word, moments before racing to celebrate with goalkeeper Donarrumma after he made the decisive save.

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While responding to a question from ESPN, Chiellini admitted he uttered the word, saying:

“Hello Christian, I confirm everything! Kiricocho!”

The term Kiricocho' has a pretty bizarre story behind it and it originated from South America.

It is actually the name of a supporter of Argentine club Estudiantes, who was quite popular in the 1980s.

According to Goal.com, the fan in question used to attend the team’s training sessions and every time he would make an appearance, a player would end up picking an injury.

Head coach Carlos Bilardo was among the first to notice the bizarre trend and in a sick attempt to get an edge over competitors, he urged Kiricocho to attend rivals’ training sessions.

"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," Bilardo once remarked.

Since then, the legend of the infamous kid Kiricocho has since spewed over the football world, with players associating the name with some sort of bad luck.

Sadly for Saka, his penalty miss is something England fans will not forget very soon and boss Gareth Southgate also came under scrutiny for handing such a heavy task to a 19-year old.

Jose Mourinho was among those who believed the more senior players should have been the ones to take on penalty duties when it mattered.

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