Former Hearts of Oak player Joe Louis has denied that black magic, commonly known as juju, works in football while narrating a situation he encountered with Hearts of Oak to justify his claim.

According to him, the club visited a priest ahead of an away game in Ethiopia in the CAF Champions League and was told that they were going to win by eight goals, but they lost 4-0 instead.

Narrating the event to Dan Kwaku Yeboah on YouTube, he said the priest directed the Hearts entourage to keep repeating 'Awotwe,' a Fante word that translates to eight.

"Juju doesn't work in football. I remember in one of our Champions League campaigns, we went to Ethiopia, and they took us to a place that looked like a church. We were singing and praying, and the priest told us to keep saying 'Awotwe, Awotwe.' I didn't understand so I asked Anthony Annan (former Black Stars player who is Fante) what does 'Awotwe' mean, and he said eight. I asked him, 'Meaning we are going to beat them by eight goals? in Ethiopia? Champions League?'," he said.

Louis, who believed the priest's claim was unrealistic, said he was the only member of the squad who refused to do as instructed.

"I told them I won't say it, but the rest kept saying it. Anthony Annan asked me, 'So you won't say it?' and I told him, 'Pablo, there are certain things you know God won't do. I will never say it."

Despite going through the cleansing and spiritual preparations for the game, Joe Louis said they got thrashed 4-0 and almost conceded a fifth goal, but the home side missed a penalty.

"The weather was high altitude during the game. Before we would realize it, they had scored 4 goals. They were just about scoring the fifth goal in the final minutes of the match, but Charles Valdez (late Hearts of Oak player) brought down the attacker and conceded a penalty. Luckily, they missed the penalty, and the game ended 4-0."

He said he mocked Anthony Annan, who was vomiting during the game, after the defeat.

"Anthony was vomiting all over the pitch; when we got to the hotel, I told him, 'You see what happened to you? You followed the pastor or priest or whoever, saying 'Awotwe, Awotwe.' Even at that time, they had not paid our bonuses and some other arrears, but they had money to give that man."

The said game was played in 2006 with the Ethiopian side being St. George FC. It was the first leg of the second-round playoffs where former Ethiopian U-20 star Dawick Mebratu scored a hat-trick in the game.

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Hearts of Oak, despite the big defeat, progressed to the next round after St. George walked off the pitch during the second leg in Accra while trailing 2-0 in the first half in protest of alleged poor officiating.

CAF awarded the Phobians the qualification and they went on to eliminate Etoile du Sahel and advance to the group stage.

Watch Joe Louis' interview below from the 8th minute




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