Parrot picks Japan to lose, Latest Football News - The New Paper
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Parrot picks Japan to lose

Japan's hopes of winning their opening World Cup fixture today have been written off before a ball has been kicked - by a chirpy parrot believed to possess psychic powers.

The grey-feathered tipster called Olivia, who lives at Nasu Animal Kingdom in Tochigi prefecture, predicted that Colombia would beat Group H rivals Japan when they face off in Russia, local media reported yesterday.

Olivia, one of several animal psychics to have taken on the extra work in recent years, plucked a Colombia flag with its beak.

The bird then handed the flag to a zookeeper after flirting with a third flag that represented a draw, reported Sankei News. "Hopefully he's got it wrong this time," zookeeper Nozomi Oikawa told reporters.

However, the odds are not good for Japan upsetting Colombia in Saransk as Olivia has an uncanny knack for being right.

The bird successfully predicted six out of seven results at the 2015 women's World Cup and five out of seven at the 2016 Rio Olympics. - AFP

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