Ghana won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Ecuador in 1995 under the guidance of the late Sam Arday but captain of that side Emmanuel Bentil says that they consulted spirits from the sea to help them lift the diadem.

The Black Starlets won the U-17 World Cup after defeating Brazil 3-1 in the final to win their second title at the Under-17 level.

Ghana had several top players including the darling boy Awudu Issaka, Baba Sule, Stephen Appiah, Bashiru Gambo, Patrick Allotey, Christian Gyan, Christian Saba among others.

Speaking in an interview on eart and Soul program on Life TV hosted by Erasmus Kwaw, the captain of the then U-17 World says that after their victory some players failed to pay homage to the marine spirit that gave the success enhance the misfortunes in their careers.

"We went to certain places for rituals to win games. I remember even when I played monchendi (a highly competitive local football game in the 80s and 90s where teams and individuals stake bets on the outcome of matches) at Chorkor, a suburb of Accra.

"We used to go to the beach maybe at midnight; maybe 1 o clock in the morning or 2 O clock in the morning.

"The whole team had to go there and pray. They will pray and call the saints and sometimes you can hear things, noise and something will come out from the sea.

When asked about the things that appeared he said: "like maame water (mermaid)", adding, the strange occurrence in this particular instance occurred at the Korle Gonnor beach."

The former Bayern Munich ace added that many players from that team went on to sustain career threatening injuries because they failed to show appreciation to a certain spiritual leader, who is known as Acquah Isaacs.