Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

CROATIA PREZ CELEBRATES WIN AT NATO SUMMIT

MICK JAGGER ENGLAND’S BAD OMEN

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BRUSSELS:

It has been a successful NATO summit for Croatia President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. The World Cup took care of that. With a come-from-behind 2-1 win over favoured England, GrabarKita­rovic could eat her NATO gala dinner with that bit more gusto late Wednesday. “We followed the game over dinner,” a beaming Grabar-Kitarovic said as she entered the last sessions of the NATO summit early Thursday. “It was wonderful because all the allies were cheering for all of us, mostly,” she said. She was at the table together with French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday and the two will meet again on Sunday — at the Moscow stadium where France plays Croatia in the final. “This will be a successful summit and we will win on Sunday,” Grabar-Kitarovic confidentl­y predicted. Grabar-Kitarovic, who was elected as the president of the country in 2015, was in Russia for their quarterfin­al match against the host country and shared videos on Wednesday night, wherein she can be seen walking up to each and every player to hug him after they defeated Russia. It has already been reported that Grabar-Kitarovic took a chartered airplane to Russia from her home land and travelled in economy class alongside other fans.

In a literal case of life imitating art, Mick Jagger went to see England and England lost. The Rolling Stones frontman was at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday to see Croatia beat England 2-1 in extra time in the World Cup semifinals. Last year, Jagger unexpected­ly released a pair of solo songs. One of the songs was called “England Lost,” and its starts with the tale of someone ostensibly going to watch England play a football match and finishes with some political commentary about Britain’s exit from the European Union. “I went to see England, but England’s lost,” Jagger sings. “And everyone said we were all ripped off.” But Jagger, has been thought of as a

OSCOW:

bit of a jinx. During another European tour in 2014, Jagger wrote some encouragin­g words on Twitter ahead of England’s match against Uruguay in the group stage. “Let’s go England! This is the one to win!!,” he wrote. England lost. Jagger then predicted at a show in Rome that Italy would beat Uruguay in a subsequent group match. Italy lost. At an earlier concert in Lisbon, Jagger said Portugal would win the title in Brazil. The Portuguese were eliminated in the first round. Then came the semifinals, which essentiall­y cemented Jagger’s reputation as a harbinger of bad luck in Brazil as the hosts lost 7-1 to Germany.

 ?? REUTERS PHOTO ?? Mick Jagger (right) during England’s semifinal against Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday.
REUTERS PHOTO Mick Jagger (right) during England’s semifinal against Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday.

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