Mick Jagger has an abysmal record at the World Cup. Not simply because the Rolling Stones singer supports his national side — the perennially disappointing England — but because he has developed a reputation for jinxing any team he supports. And after the 7-1 thrashing Germany unleashed on Brazil, he has ensured that his legendary curse will go down in history — at least in the eyes of Brazilians.
The legend of Jagger’s Jinx began in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, where he attended matches to support England, the U.S. and Brazil in separate games — and saw all of them defeated. Brazilians supposedly blamed Jagger for their 2010 loss to the Netherlands on a Brazilian shirt he wore.
When the World Cup kicked off in Brazil, locals were understandably anxious to ward off Jagger’s bad mojo. He was nicknamed Pé Frio — literally “cold foot,” which is used to describe a person who brings bad luck.
With the Rolling Stones on tour during the group stages of the World Cup, soccer fans hoped he would be too distracted to do any harm. But, as AP noted in a report dated June 25, this was not to be realized:
At a concert in Rome on Saturday night, Jagger predicted to 70,000 fans that four-time World Cup champion Italy would pull off a clutch victory over Uruguay to advance to the knockout phase. The Italians lost 1-0 Tuesday and were headed home after the tournament’s first round.
At a show in Lisbon in May, the singer predicted that Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, the game’s top player heading into the World Cup, would win it all at the monthlong tournament in Brazil. Portugal is on the brink of elimination after failing to win in its first two group matches.
Earlier in the World Cup, Jagger suffered some good-hearted ridicule after taking to Twitter on June 19 to urge on his native England in a game, also with Uruguay. ‘Let’s go England! This is the one to win!!,’ he wrote. England lost.
Finally, Jagger turned up in Belo Horizonte for the semifinal to cheer on the host nation with his Brazilian son Lucas. Despite wearing an England cap, Pé Frio sat down to witness, along with thousands of dismayed fans of the yellow and green, reportedly the worst home loss ever in Brazilian soccer as well as the most one-sided defeat in a semifinal game in World Cup history. When it comes to soccer, Jagger just can’t get, or give, no satisfaction.
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