From psychic meerkats and horses to a woman chucking around some asparagus – England’s national football team has had its fair share of weird things predicting its fate over the years.
But now it’s the Daily Star’s turn to enlist the help of its own psychic animal . . . a cat.
Yes, in a totally scientific and perfectly normal experiment, I got my extremely furry cat to predict the fate of Gareth Southgate’s men ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2024 final against Spain.
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(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Using every cats’ favourite liquid treat – Weebox’s liver sausage and cat grass Lik-e-Lix (yum) – I filled two kiddie-sized snack bowls will one sachet of the good equally, wrote “ENG” on a light blue one and “SPA” on a yellow one and unleashed the beast to see what happens.
Well, the first two minutes was just her sniffing around both bowls, showing zero interest and walking off – a bit like England fans during the first four games of this drab tournament run. But undeterred, and like Gareth Southgate’s insistence on believing his tactics are entertaining, I tried again.
(Image: Adam Cailler/Daily Star)
This time, Willow’s interest was piqued . . . although nothing at all had changed. And then, like a last-minute Jude Bellingham overhead kick winner, she dove straight into one bowl – England’s bowl – first with her face and then with her paw.
The latter is something she has never done in the near-three years we’ve had her, so that’s a sign that history could be made. So, I’m taking that to mean that England will bag a 2-0 win and romp home with the Euro 2024 trophy.
But what else could the paw mean?
Maybe it’s a sign that we’ll win 1-0 and Jordan Pickford saves a penalty to add to the chaotic drama of the run, or it could mean there’s a handball and we score a penalty of our own to win.
Either way, if Willow is right, then there will be jubilant scenes across the entire UK come Sunday night . . . and maybe an extra Bank Holiday for all of us.
(Image: Adam Cailler/Daily Star)
When Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked earlier today if there would be an extra day off if England win on Sunday, he said: “We should certainly mark the occasion, I don’t want to jinx it. I went to the last Euros final, I don’t want to go through that again.
“I don’t want to jinx anything but we must mark it in some way. But the most important thing is getting it over the line on Sunday.”
So for the sake of a nation getting a day to celebrate, let’s hope Willow was right!
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