Achilles the cat trains mind and body for role as World Cup psychic

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Like many soccer fans trying to predict the results of the World Cup, Achilles is busy studying the teams heading to Russia this month for the sport’s biggest global showdown. But he has one advantage: cat sense.

The furry white feline, who lives in St Petersburg’s Hermitage museum, is being touted as a cat psychic that will predict the winners and losers of the tournament kicking off in Russia in two weeks.

2018 World Cup oracle cat Achilles is seen at the unveiling of 32 figures of footballer cats representing teams taking part in the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup. /VCG Photo

Achilles has some big shoes – or tentacles – to fill: predecessor Paul the octopus became an international celebrity when at the 2010 World Cup it correctly forecast the outcome of Germany’s games and picked eventual winner Spain.

One of the many cats to have lived at the Hermitage, once the imperial Winter Palace, Achilles previously predicted outcomes during the 2017 Confederations Cup.

Achilles is deaf, meaning it will not be easily distracted by waiting journalists when it makes its predictions by choosing between two bowls of food, each bearing a team flag.

2018 World Cup oracle cat Achilles is seen at the unveiling of 32 figures of footballer cats representing teams taking part in the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup. /VCG Photo

For its training, Achilles, dressed in a red soccer jersey, looks at a chart of the teams and game schedules, before, slightly reluctantly, moving onto an exercise wheel.

“Achilles is now in his place of work, he is preparing for the World Cup and going through the adaptation process,” veterinarian Anna Kondratieva said during a training session at a pet shop near the museum.

“People tend to feed him more than they should. When he came to us he looked like a football, not a cat, so we decided to put him on a strict diet.”

When Achilles is not in training, it can also be found posing for pictures in the museum yard, building a celebrity persona that is about to get a huge lift from one of the world’s most-watched sporting tournaments.

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Source(s): Reuters