Shamans ask gods to smile on soccer

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Wearing a poncho and coloured beads, Peruvian shaman Juan Osco takes a swig from a bottle filled with unidentified herbs and sprays the liquid over a soccer ball decorated with flags.


A fellow "brujo" whacked the ball with chrysanthemums in a shower of yellow petals.


Other shamans, chanting and shaking maracas, sprayed sickly perfume over the shirts and flags of the 12 teams that will compete in the Copa America soccer tournament starting on Tuesday.


"This is to welcome all the teams and to wish them good luck," Osco told a bemused crowd of onlookers outside Lima's National Stadium.


But he and his six fellow shamans -- including some from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia -- had decided not to forecast the winner.


"We're not infallible," he said. "May the best team win."


World champions Brazil are obviously strong contenders and Osco said they were helped by their team colours -- yellow, representing spiritual strength, and green, the colour of hope.


Though Peru "aren't looking so good, we have to unite the forces of all fans," he added, before hollering "goooooaal Peru."


"Whenever they do this, we lose," sighed Martin Suarez, 23, who was selling hats and shirts in Peru's red and white colours.


At one point Osco held a shrunken head atop a pole to cast out negative energy and promote good values. Another shaman sported a grey fox fur and beat a drum; a third, wearing jungle designs, blew a conch shell.


Along with the soccer shirts and flags, the shamans laid out team pictures beside their other accoutrements: dried llama foetuses, skulls, a cross, feathers and coca leaves, which are considered sacred in the Andes.


Dubbed the "Shaman of the Andes," Osco urged the gods to smile on Peru during the tournament, which ends on July 25.


Despite the shamans' efforts, the number of tourists expected to attend the Copa this year is likely to be affected by recent violence in southern Peru and a general strike planned for next week.