Sportspeople often tend to be creatures of habit.
One such ritual by Argentina’s Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes seems to have played a part in their nation’s unprecedented success in recent years.
Before every Argentina game, the pair walk up to the centre circle to eat caramel candies.
It was a superstition which goes back as far as the quarterfinal of the Copa America in 2021 with De Paul, Paredes and Alejandro Gomez being the originators.
This tradition has coincided with Argentina winning the Copa America twice in 2021 and 2024 and the World Cup in 2022.
The nunbers seem to be in their favour too with Argentina losing just five of the 70 matches since the start of the supersitition.
Even though Gomez hasn’t featured for the national team since 2022, De Paul and Paredes have carried on the act.
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Published on Jul 12, 2026