Russia’s Central Bank has said that a bank note it released in May correctly predicted Igor Akinfeyev’s decisive penalty kick save in Sunday’s game against Spain.
The bank released a special 100-ruble ($1.58) banknote dedicated to the World Cup in the weeks before the tournament, featuring a hologram of a diving goalkeeper parrying a football with his foot.
The figure is remarkably similar to images of Akinfeyev during Spain’s last penalty kick on Sunday, when he parried the ball with the tip of his outstretched foot to send Russia into the quarterfinals of the tournament.
“Forecasting was always one of our strong sides,” the bank said in a Facebook statement on Monday.
The banknote also features a boy with a football and legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin, symbolizing “the transition between generations,” Central Bank deputy head Olga Skorobogatova was cited as saying by the RBC news website.
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