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Cruz Azul sparked fear among its fans after the Rocky Balboa statue, located in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, appeared dressed in the club's sky-blue colors ahead of its participation in the 2026 Leagues Cup. The image quickly went viral and revived one of the most famous superstitions in sports: the so-called "Rocky curse."
Cruz Azul is one of the most important teams in Mexico, boasting a large number of fans across the country who have supported it at all times, through both the good times and the bad streaks the team has gone through in recent years.
But above all, it has been in the bad moments that its fans have been there for them, as for a time it was considered that Cruz Azul had very bad luck, because when it played its best and had everything to win league titles, something would happen that they would ultimately end up losing. Even today, "cruzazulear" is still used to describe something that goes unexpectedly wrong even when you have everything in your favor.
With all this background, one would think that La Máquina takes superstitions very seriously, but it seems that is not the case, as ahead of their Leagues Cup debut against Philadelphia, they uploaded a photo to their Instagram account showing the famous Rocky statue with a cementeros flag.
“Hello, Philadelphia,” was the message accompanying the image, which sparked all kinds of comments, mostly complaints from followers. “We already lost,” “It hasn't even started and we're already gone,” “Noooo, what are you doing,” “It's all over, don't do that with the Rocky statue. It brings bad luck,” “Take the flag off Rocky,” and “The curse is on its way” were the reactions the photo generated.
¿Qué es la "maldición de Rocky"?
The so-called "Rocky curse" arose because several teams that placed their jersey on the Rocky statue before playing in a final or an important match ended up losing.
According to Sports Illustrated, the curse was born in 2002 in American football when Green Bay fans dressed the statue in their jersey and ended up losing the game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
¿Dónde está la estatua de Rocky?
The statue is located in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, United States. The monument was created for the films starring Sylvester Stallone and has become one of the main tourist attractions in the city, especially among sports and film fans.
¿A qué hora juega y dónde ver Cruz Azul vs Philadelphia?
The match between Cruz Azul and Philadelphia for the Leagues Cup is played today at 6:00 PM (Central Mexico time). You can watch the match on:
-Apple TV (MLS Season Pass).
[Publicidad]