England threatened with Ghana 'curse' ahead of World Cup match

England threatened with Ghana 'curse' ahead of World Cup match

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The World Cup is a celebration of different cultures from around the globe...but some tabloid tropes die hard.

Rather than speaking to a Ghanaian football expert or something ahead of the Black Stars' meeting with England on Tuesday, the always culturally sensitive Daily Star instead got in touch with headline-seeking self-claimed 'witch doctor' Nana Kwaku Bonsam.

Funnily enough, it just so happened that he had something for them: he's apparently going to hex Harry Kane.

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Spurious hex claim for Harry Kane

The 'African witch-doctor' trope, specifically as it pertains to curses, has been criticised as a way of reducing the positive community work of traditional healers down to the subject of mockery.

The term is 'laden with centuries of colonial baggage', but remains part of the British media vocabulary nonetheless.

Nana said: “I am working on Harry Kane. I have shown what I am capable of before so I know what work I must do to stop him. I am very famous for my predictions."

We are here reminded of the possibly apocryphal memo attributed to BBC director general Lord Reith: “If a person is famous, it is superfluous to point out the fact; if he is not, then it is a lie."

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In any case, Nana went on: "I am not wishing [Kane] serious injury. It will be just enough to stop him against my country. I will do my work so that it can help Ghana."

Nana has previously claimed credit for Cristiano Ronaldo's struggles with a knee injury ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

Ronaldo subsequently started every game for Portugal at the competition and scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Ghana as both sides went out in the group stage. Danhausen has a better track record than that.

Ghana were not terribly convincing in their opening game of this summer's tournament, but nonetheless eked out a 1-0 victory over Panama thanks to Caleb Yirenkyi's 95th minute strike.

That puts them level on points with England, who beat Croatia 4-2 thanks to Kane's first-half brace and second-half goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford

The two sides will meet at Boston's Gilette Stadium on Tuesday, with kick-off set for 4pm local time (9pm UK time).

A victory for either side could guarantee they will finish top of Group L, depending on the result in the later game between Panama and Croatia.

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