Russia’s ‘psychic’ cat Achilles predicts the winner of the opening World Cup game
A Russian cat reputed to have psychic powers made a perfect start to the World Cup by successfully predicting the winner of the first game on Thursday.
Achilles, whose day job is catching mice at the St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum, plumped for his home nation of Russia, who went on to beat Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener.
The feline pundit garnered a reputation as a psychic last summer by predicting a number of results correctly in the Confederations Cup, which was also held in Russia.
Achilles, who is deaf, was presented to the world’s media for his first prediction of the tournament.
The cat was offered two bowls of food with the flags of two nations over each. He initially hesitated for a moment before eating from the one representing his motherland.
Anna Kondratyeva, the Hermitage's veterinarian, later said that Achilles “loves his motherland and couldn’t vote otherwise.”
The cat was then dressed in a Russia national team football shirt for photographs.
Achilles is the latest animal hoping to carve out a niche as a psychic World Cup predictor following the breakout success of Paul the Octopus in 2010.
The cephalopod rose to global celebrity during the South Africa World Cup when he correctly predicted the results of 12 matches, out of 14 attempts.
Paul, a common octopus kept at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, was encouraged to choose between two boxes of food, each decorated with a different national flag.
Sadly the media career of the two-year-old, who was originally born in Weymouth, England, was cut short as he died in October 2010. Octopuses are generally expected to live between three and five years.
The 2014 World Cup saw a number of imitators try to recreate Paul's success as zoos and wildlife centres across the world unveiled their own "psychic" animals.
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They included penguins in Birmingham, macaws in Brazil, and miniature donkeys in Somerset. Although none attained the profile of Paul the Octopus.
