Pundit puts his name on the trophy
07 Jun 10
Football pundit Chris Kamara is set to change his name to Chris Cabanga after he learned that the word could give the England players a boost during the World Cup.
A Facebook campaign involving more than 22,000 people had urged the fans' favourite to change his name by deed poll.
Scientists revealed that the word cabanga, which comes from the Zulu word for imagine, could unite the team when it is chanted by fans.
Kamara, who will change his name for the duration of the tournament, said: "I'm passionate about England and the unbelievable power of the fans to will them on to victory.
"I was only too happy to take up the challenge. We all want to bring the cup home.
David Lewis-Hodgson, who led the research at Mindlab International Laboratory, said: "It's well documented that vocal fans can have a positive impact on team performance. We wanted to see if we could focus this energy further via scientific methods.
"By discovering the most resonant word, cabanga, we have found a means of focusing this energy and found proven evidence that it works. It unifies the crowd so it has a greater effect than other chants.
"The chanting and cheering of football fans have proved to have a profound effect on the performance of teams and individual players."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
http://www.facebook.com/ThinkCabanga (Facebook campaign)
This story has been viewed 142 times.