Mexican Voodoo Aims to Stick it to U.S.

I kid you not.

How do you spell D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E in Spanish?

Read on:
MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican soccer fans are turning to voodoo to beat the United States, with help from an American electronics company.

The teams meet Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, in the first game of the final round of
regional qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Mexico has not beaten the United States
on American soil in 10 years.

An advertisement in the sports newspaper Record on Tuesday invited fans to clip
coupons and redeem them at their local Radio Shack store for a voodoo-doll likeness
of a U.S. player. The hope was that a little black magic might help Mexico break its
decade of futility.

"Help end the losing streak so Mexico advances," the ad read.

An illustration showed a pair of scissors slicing off the leg of a doll in a U.S. jersey that
was bruised, crying out in pain, leaking stuffing and stuck with pushpins.

"We imagine a group of young people gathered around the TV supporting Mexico and
applying punishments to our rivals so that the team can qualify," Record said in a
statement.

Daniel Paz, marketing manager for the newspaper, told The Associated Press the
promotion was a lighthearted attempt to make next month's rivalry game more
enjoyable for fans.

"It's a toy," Paz said. "There's no intention of being anything serious."

The media office of Radio Shack in Fort Worth, Texas, did not immediately return
phone calls and e-mails, but the company's Mexico office confirmed its
participation.

Record said it has created 10,000 dolls and plans to expand the promotion to include
effigies representing the other finalists in North and Central America and the
Caribbean: Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Trinidad and
Tobago.