Baseball has its own curse of the Billy Goat with the Chicago Cubs. You can now add another, this time from the soccer world.

Last week, 154th ranked Niger defeated reigning African champions Egypt in a 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying game.

But skill – or lack thereof – wasn’t to blame for Egypt’s unexpected loss. Instead, the upset was blamed on a black goat.

According to the locals, the goat was walked around the field by a ‘local witchdoctor’ before the game started.

Word of this voodoo goat quickly spread and the spokesman for the Confederation of African Football took to the radio to deemphasize the goat’s role in Egypt’s loss.

“I really don’t see the reason why we are talking about some goat,” Abdul-Menem told Egyptian radio. “Of course it’s the match commissioner’s responsibility to make sure that only the players are on the pitch, but it’s no big deal after all.”