Lome, Togo ? A local beauty queen and a Voodoo shaman are helping generate a frenzy of World Cup optimism in this sliver of West Africa.
Togo has never before reached soccer's biggest stage and is ranked lowest among the 32 qualifiers for the tournament, which begins Friday.
None of that has discouraged the country's Voodoo chief fetish priest, who is going to Germany in hopes of propelling his nation to first-round victories over South Korea, Switzerland and France.
"The Voodoo mystic powers divine that Togo will go far in the second round," Togbui Assiogbo Gnagblondjro III told local radio Tuesday.
Many superstition-prone Togolese have rallied around his predictions, though others dismiss them as wishful thinking.
"The Voodoo fetish priest is daydreaming." said Eric Kaglan, a radio journalist. "Voodoo does not play football. We need good scientific training, skills and excellent preparations to win our World Cup matches."
Togo is a decided underdog, ranked 61st in the world by FIFA. It failed to score in the African Cup of Nations tournament in January and is struggling to find form and consistency under new German coach Otto Pfister.
Not all the news is grim ? both players and the national soccer federation say they've resolved a dispute over bonus payments.
The team's playmaker, Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor, recently appeared on national television and assured viewers that "we are now focused and prepared to play our hearts out to make our Togolese people proud."
The country already can boast one success.
Last week, Edwige Badakou was crowned Miss World Cup 2006, winning out over women representing the other countries in the tournament.
"We have not yet kicked a ball but we have started winning World Cup titles. That is a good omen," commentator Guy Yovo said. "Togo will certainly go places."
National flags are fluttering throughout the capital and T-shirts and caps are hot sellers. Television viewing sheds are springing up so fans can watch live transmissions on large screens for a small fee.
The government has provided funding for over 100 drum beating Togolese to buoy the Sparrow Hawks in Germany. Gnagblondjro said he will join them in full Voodoo attire.
"You cannot sit down here in Togo and say Togo will win," he told The Associated Press recently. "But Togo will win."
A journalist by profession, he was installed as chief Voodoo fetish priest when his uncle died three years ago. He claims to oversee 650 naked priests and priestesses who worship in a sacred forest, and says he is the chief intermediary between the living and ancestral spirits.
Togo flamed out of the African Cup, Gnagblondjro said, because they ignored the powers of the Voodoo.
"They asked the churches to do the prayers, and you saw the results," he said. "But now we in the Voodoo have decided to help them to do something at the World Cup."
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... herSports/
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