When England were drawn against Wales in Euro 2016 , there was much excitement and anticipation on behalf of Welsh football fans eager take on the old enemy on the biggest of stages.
How Wales will fare against Wayne Rooney , Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and co is anybody’s guess, with most pundits predicting that it’s too close to call.
That is unless your name is Cass and you’re a four-year-old ‘clairvoyant’ cat that has predicted the result of one of the most eagerly awaited footballing showdowns in decades - via the medium of eating cat treats that is.
England will succumb to Chris Coleman’s Red Dragons
Cass’s owner, Dirk Copland, an expat Brit now living in the United States, has filmed his football-loving feline predicting how EVERY match at the Euro 2016 group stages will end up.
And it’s good news for Wales fans, as according to his ‘psychic’ puss, England will succumb to Chris Coleman ’s Red Dragons in their hugely anticipated showdown in Lens on June 16.
Wales v England
In the grand tradition of animal psychics and major football tournaments, which famously started with Paul The Octopus at the 2010 World Cup, Cass has predicted the results by choosing between two plates loaded with a cat treat and marked with the flag of each competing nation.
It appears Wales are heading for the knockout stages at their first major tournament for 48 years, as the mystic moggy plumps for Wales over England and Russia, although predicts Gareth Bale and co will make a nervy start, losing their Euro opener against Slovakia.
Related: Watch homeless hound Jet predict Wales will beat France at the Principality Stadium on Friday night
England look set to suffer yet more tournament heartache with Cass, who lives with owner Dirk in State College, a town in Pennsylvania, forecasting football embarrassment for Roy Hodgson ’s troops who she reckons will be eliminated at the group stages once again after their early World Cup exit in Brazil in 2014.
Wales v Slovakia
According to Blackburn Rovers fan Dirk, a 36-year-old audio/visual supervisor for the Penn Stater Conference Center in State College, who runs the Blackburnroverseas YouTube channel , the videos were a labour of love - a labour for Film and Media graduate Dirk and lots of love for Cass who tucked into plenty of cat treats during filming.
'We shot the videos over course of about a month'
“It was very time consuming just getting the video,” said Dirk, who was formerly in the RAF and lived in Lancashire where his love for Blackburn Rovers began.
“I used a mixture of treats and food in the videos, varying from typical cat food, to little pieces of cheese.
“We shot the videos over the course of about a month, there is currently 24 of them out there, and when the tournament kicks off, we will be back again to do the second round through to the final.”
Wales v Russia
While Cass is forecasting footballing nirvana for Wales, Dirk himself sounds a note of caution.
“This is a tricky one, Cass has gone for Wales to make it through to the second round at the expense of England,” he said.
“I however hate to say it, but I think Wales will just be pipped to a spot in the second round. I feel they will have a reasonable tournament, drawing two of their games and losing one of them, which will leave them on two points.
'Let’s put our faith in the cat on this one'
“But hey, what do I know, I support Blackburn Rovers, and look where we are. So let’s put our faith in the cat on this one.”
Although he added: “I would like to wish the glorious nation of Wales best of luck in the tournament. It’s been a long time coming for them to show Europe and the rest of the world what they are all about.
“I will be rooting for them, as like my club, I always root for the underdog, or in this case the undercat!”
Check out all of Dirk’s videos at the BlackburnRovers YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/user/blackburnroverseas and follow him on Twitter: @roverseas
Cass’s Euro 2016 Group B Predictions
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
Wales v Slovakia - SLOVAKIA
England v Russia - ENGLAND
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15
Russia v Slovakia - RUSSIA
THURSDAY, JUNE 16
England v Wales - WALES
MONDAY, JUNE 20
Russia v Wales - WALES
MONDAY, JUNE 20
Slovakia v England - SLOVAKIA
FINAL GROUP B PLACINGS
Wales - 6
Slovakia - 6
England - 3
Russia - 3
