Northern Ireland overwhelmed by comments from Italian fans: Calciatoribrutti’s ‘superstitious’ initiative

Here is the post from the social media page that launched the initiative:

"To mark the decisive seven days for the Italian national team as it seeks to qualify for a World Cup that has eluded them for 12 years now, CALCIATORIBRUTTI is launching: Holy Week.

Seven days, seven ‘macumbe’ rituals that our community of 3.4 million followers must follow to help the Azzurri in the play-offs, first against Northern Ireland and then against the winner of Bosnia-Wales.

Seven challenges to ward off bad luck and support our players, who will take to the pitch on Thursday at 8.45 pm for Italy v Northern Ireland.

Holy Week, which kicked off today, sees the first challenge as commenting on the Northern Ireland national team’s social media posts with the superstitious phrase “congratulations on qualifying” so as to “jinx” our opponents, who will be left confused reading the thousands of comments from the Italian public.

The remaining challenges will be announced each morning, with users following the instructions and, together with us, feeling like the 12th man on the pitch, hoping that the initiative brings good luck and that our enthusiasm, support and warmth reach the Italian players.

Come on, Azzurri!"

The initiative quickly gained a huge following, with thousands of Italian fans literally flooding the posts published on Northern Ireland’s social media accounts. The comments can be found on the national team’s official Instagram account, ranging from the post announcing the squad to the latest videos showing training on the eve of tonight’s match.