JEDDAH: Spartak the lemur picked º£½ÇÖ±²¥ to defeat World cup hosts RussiaÌıritual predicting results at Yekaterinburg Zoo.
However,ÌıAchilles the cat at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg picked the home team.
The cat was presented with two plates of cat food — one marked with a Russian flag and the other with a Saudi one. Achilles hesitated before going for the Russia plate.
The cat was then dressed in Russia’s uniform and posed for the cameras.
Hermitage veterinarian Anna Kondratyeva said she’s sure Achilles made the right call. She said he “loves his motherland and couldn’t vote otherwise.â€
Achilles became famous by correctly predicting several matches during the Confederations Cup in Russia last summer.
Former Saudi coach Marcos Paqueta told Arab News º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s Ìıgroup is difficult “to predict, but the first phase of a World Cup is when teams take a little more risk. It’s hard to say which team will qualify, but º£½ÇÖ±²¥ must be brave.â€
º£½ÇÖ±²¥ will be underdogs in Group A at the World Cup. The Falcons are ranked 67th in the world, Ìısecond-lowest at the tournament only behind the hosts Russia in 70th, but Jan Van Winckel, a former technical director of the Saudi Football Federation, does not consider those stats a problem.
“I think º£½ÇÖ±²¥ have a good chance of reaching the second round,†Van Winckel told Arab News.
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(With input from AP)
