The FIFA 2018 World Cup fever has begun and so are the predictions. The first match will be played on Thursday, June 14, between Saudi Arabia and Russia in Moscow and according to a psychic cat, the home team will win the first match.
Achilles, a deaf Russian cat, was offered two bowls of cat food – one bowl kept next to Russia's flag and other one kept next to Saudi Arabia's flag – to determine the winner of the first match of the FIFA World Cup.
After a moment of hesitation, the cat ate food from the bowl kept next to the Russian flag, giving a relief to the host team which is considered one of the weakest. The cat was later dressed in Russian uniform for photos.
Achilles lives in St Petersburg's Hermitage museum and loves his motherland, Hermitage veterinarian Anna Kondratyeva said, according to media reports.
"He's absolutely unbiased," Kondratyeva said, adding: "He's deaf to any comments from the fans so he probably feels with his heart and a special cat sense."
The veterinarian did not comment whether the colour of the flags persuaded his choice. Not just the first match, Achilles will make predictions for all the matches this year. The cat shot to fame last year after correctly predicting winners of multiple matches during the Confederations Cup in the country.
Achilles lives in St Petersburg but the FIFA World Cup he will be moved to a nearby cat café.
Talking about selecting Achilles as the official predictor, Anna Kasatkina, a vet who oversees guard-cats at Saint Petersburg's Hermitage museum, told Buzz Sports, "We went for Achilles because he is beautiful, first of all, but also because -- like all white cats with blue eyes -- he is deaf, so he has a great deal of intuition, he sees with his heart."
Watch the video of cat predicting the winner of the opening match below:
