This theory might not be as scientific as having an octopus select the winners for upcoming World Cup games, but Brazil seems to have noticed that every team picked by Mick Jagger inevitably loses, and is encouraging the Rolling Stones frontman to take his support to other teams as a result.
Let's consider some examples from the 2014 event in Brazil:
01) The Rolling Stones were playing a gig in Lisbon during May when the vocalist declared that he predicted that Portugal would win its first World Cup this year. It wasn't a crazy guess-the team harbors Cristiano Ronaldo and a history of football prowess. But that didn't stop the team from getting smashed in its first game by Germany, before barely staving off elimination against underdog United States with a tying header at the last second. Progressing to the second round will require some help.
02) Jagger also gave his blessing to the Italian team during a Rome concert on June 21, claiming that the team was sure to beat opponent Uruguay. The snakebitten (or Juarez-bitten) team fell 1-0 however, and abandoned hopes of progressing to the knockout round.
03) Jagger was of course supporting his home country of England during the Cup. The lowly Brits disappointed all expectations and couldn't scrape together one win in the qualifying round.
Finally, Jagger attended three games during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and in each case, the team he was supporting-England, the United States and Brazil respectively-fell in defeat.
What can we draw from this evidence? For one, Jagger should be a bit less generous in praising the wares of concert hosts, even though that's a popular role for a frontman. Secondly, Jagger is clearly affected by some sort of football curse*.
Brazilians are embracing the idea of Jagger's bad karma and are trying to aim it at their primary opponents. Social media campaigns from the country have encouraged the vocalist to support the thus far dominant Netherlands and Brazil's regional rival Argentina.
* = Not real science.
