With kick-off pushed back, a moment to catch up on a few things.
Merlin, Mexico’s improbable World Cup mascot, is finally getting his moment. For the game against England, the duck will be inside the Azteca — on the stadium’s final match of the entire tournament.
According to owner Karla Ivett Gomez, Televisa reached out to FIFA with a request that bordered on the surreal:
💬 “We need Merlin at the stadium, he’s the national team’s lucky charm.”
It secured the family a VIP tunnel entrance. Gomez asked for just one thing in return from the fans: Moderation. No beer showers for the duck.
Unlike previous World Cup animals such as Paul the Octopus, Merlin has no track record in the prophecy business — but he made one anyway. Presented with the flags of today’s two contenders, he took a walk, dished out a peck … and chose Mexico.
Stranger things have happened at this World Cup. Fewer of them have had feathers.
