There are few mascots in globe football as instantaneously recognisable as Mefi — the eagle of OGC Nice, that mirrors the club’s crest and executes a remarkable flight around the Allianz Riviera prior to kick-off.
The spectacle was once more on program ahead of Nice’s Europa League encounter AS Roma on Thursday, but what was intended to be a display of power and pride rapidly developed into an even more comical scene.
As Mefi stroked down towards her trainer, who was preparing to hand her a reward, one of the pitch sprinklers all of a sudden roared to life at full force. Both bird and instructor were instantly soaked, the jets firing with such pressure that the instructor was left scrambling to pull out his soaked in-ear headphones.
For a split second he looked totally startled, prior to getting into a smile and giving the crowd a reassuring thumbs-up. Incredibly, Mefi herself appeared unbothered by the abrupt saturating, proceeding her regular with grace– though it’s risk-free to think the eagle didn’t delight in the mistimed shower.
The accident attracted lots of laughter, but also for Franck Haise’s side the evening went downhill from there. Great slid to a 2 – 1 defeat against Roma, enjoyed on by owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe– whose INEOS team likewise possesses Manchester United.
Just as Mefi’s pre-match strategy went awry, so also did Nice’s, leaving the home fans soaked in disappointment as opposed to celebration.
Nice’s eagle, Mèfi, obtained blown up by the pitch sprinkler pre-game pic.twitter.com/Ui 3 b 1 BHGcq
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 24, 2025
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