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Bacon’s coming home?: England fans demand ‘mystic pig’ be fried after picking wrong semi winner

13 Jul, 2018 14:22
Bacon’s coming home?: England fans demand ‘mystic pig’ be fried after picking wrong semi winner
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When England were defeated by Croatia, it was clear football wasn’t coming home, now furious fans are calling to bring home the bacon - namely that of ‘Marcus the Mystic Pig’, who wrongly chose the team to win.

Marcus was the designated psychic forecast maker for the tournament on popular British topical daily TV show ‘This Morning’, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, and went about his routine picks before England’s semi-final versus Croatia on Wednesday.

The porcine predictor had a flawless record going into the pick that earned the trust and built up the belief of the nation when he chose England to win by opting for a St. George flag placed atop a scattering of apples.

In reality, England were beaten 2-1 when Ivan Perisic and a 109th-minute Mario Mandzukic winner canceled out a fifth-minute Kieran Trippier free kick, denying the Three Lions a first World Cup final since 1966 - and meaning Marcus was telling porkies. 

Superstitious supporters, who had placed great faith in Marcus, even had hope during the game, with the score at 2-1, that things would turn the way of England because of his pick. 

But as soon as the final whistle went and England were knocked out, fans now say Marcus must fry, demanding to see bacon butties made of the porky prediction maker, some even calling for them to be fed to their homecoming heroes.

The show even poked fun at the rabid requests by opening the show with Willoughby flicking through the morning front pages with the sound of sizzling in the background, before the camera pans to Schofield, who dryly says, “your bacon’s ready.”

Other famous psychic animals have included Paul the Octopus and for Russia 2018, a mystic deaf cat from St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum was tasked with picking the winner of each game.