England Are Unbeaten In 15 Games Wearing The Colour Red And It’s Coming Home

PA

It’s a dangerous game making bold predictions ahead of high-stake matches. Unless it’s a definite. And it’s definitely coming home.

The England team has confirmed it will play in their red away kit tonight against Colombia. That’s a definite.

What’s also a definite is England have won all 15 of their last games playing in their red kits.

I mean I’m no psychic octopus like Paul, or mystic bear predicting the outcomes of World Cup fixtures, but a little bit of positive superstition can’t hurt, can it?

While white is fetching, and great in the current wave of hot weather we’re having, there’s just something about the red shirts which seems to instil a certain amount of optimism.

Perhaps the red fires the players up, while also striking fear into the hearts of their opponents, who knows? But 15 unbeaten games while wearing red ain’t bad is it!

While we’re going off the red kit, a breakfast TV show in Russia has been predicting the outcome of every World Cup match using a bear.

The bear picks up a football, and drops it into one of two barrels depicting the two teams who will be going head to head in the World Cup matches. Whoever the bear chooses will supposedly win the match.

While the bear correctly ‘predicted’ England’s win over Tunisia, the stunt attracted plenty of criticism after BBC journalist Dan Walker shared a clip of the show, with the bear dressed in full footie kit.

Fans were quick to show their anger at the footage, and at Walker for sharing it, slamming the footage as animal cruelty.

One viewer of the video wrote:

That’s absolutely vile – what the hell were you thinking?

While another added:

Absolutely disgusting Dan

Walker replied to the complaints, explaining he too thought the video was wrong, and at first, he believed the bear was actually someone in a bear costume:

Truly grim Nicky. Apologies if my tone did not initially reflect that.

I spotted it on the running machine & at 1st was convinced it was a bear suit. Amazed they can get away with it. [sic]

The Russian bear is known world-wide as a symbol for the country.

Russia have used the bear in films and articles for the state, and has been used to signify the Russia we know today as well as the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union.

Russia haven’t only used a bear to predict the outcome of World Cup matches this year, Tthey also used a bear to deliver a ball to a football match between Mashuk-KMV and FC Angusht Nazran a couple of months ago.

Thankfully, it’s fairly safe to say no bears will be involved in tonight’s match between England and Colombia, where both teams are looking to progress to the quarter finals.

After facing off against Switzerland earlier today, July 3, we now know the winner will face Sweden in the quarter finals, to be played on Saturday, July 7.

Hopefully, there’ll be plenty of red shirts there, too.

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.