If any England fans are looking for good omens ahead of the World Cup quarter-final against France, they may want to steer clear of a prediction made by a surprisingly accurate lion.
Any hope of lion solidarity appear to have fallen by the wayside with the verdict of Chao Boy, a lion at a zoo in Thailand. The animal is said to have a 90% success rate with football predictions, but has backed Les Bleus to triumph over the Three Lions (no relation) at Al Bayt Stadium.
How much can we read into a lion taking chicken drumsticks from underneath a French flag rather than an English flag? Well, that's for you to decide, but the fact remains that England will now need to buck the trend against the reigning world champions.
Citing zoo boss Narongwit Chodchoy, who manages the facility in Khon Kaen where the lion resides, The Sun reports that Chao Boy has a 90 per cent hit rate. That could change before England kick off against France, though, with Gareth Southgate's team playing in the last of the four quarter-finals.
Chao Boy's other predictions have seen him back France to end up as the only European representatives in the final four. For those keeping score, that means he expects Argentina, Brazil and Morocco to win their respective quarter-final fixtures.
"Chao Boy has always been considered a favourite in predicting football results," Mr Chodchoy is quoted as saying. "Whether it's the World Cup, Euros, or other major football matches, he can predict accurately with 80 or 90 per cent of his guesses being correct."
There you have it. No further questions. Well, quite a few further questions, but we can save those for another time.
Will the lion get four out of four right? Have your say in the comments section
England have been dealt a boost ahead of the France game with the news that Declan Rice has returned to training. The West Ham midfielder has been a regular for Southgate's team, but illness had threatened to keep him out of the quarter-final.
France have plenty of attacking threats, not least tournament top-scorer Kylian Mbappe. However, England full-back Kieran Trippier has also pointed to the potential problems caused by his former Atletico Madrid team-mate Antoine Griezmann, one of the colleagues who helped him learn the language after moving to Spain.
“He is one of those when even in training he is clever where he picks up space," Trippier said. "He just drifts and is certainly a player to keep an eye on. He has the individual quality to find a pass, score a goal and arrive in the box. Griezy is a fantastic player, you know, and one we have to be aware of."
