Brazil fans who went the distance up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps to pose with the Rocky statue left the fictional fighter just as they found him. Every Brazilian fan – in Philadelphia to watch their team play Haiti at the World Cup – who stopped for a snapshot or a selfie with the 9-foot-11, 1,300-pound beast left the statue dressed in only his bronze trunks and boots. No taking chances of getting hit by the Rocky curse. Yes, the Rocky statue, long a symbol of resilience, heart and the unbreakable bond between Rocky and the people of Philadelphia, has taken a few more hits of late (even in retirement).

Visiting American sports fans have long learned the hard way that dressing the statue with colourful jerseys, scarfs, hats, anything found in your local Rally House, has only meant that the team would suffer a knockout blow at the home of the local Philly team. Scoff all you want. The bad fortune stretched to soccer when Ecuador fans took over the Rocky steps and sang and danced and waved flags and dressed Rocky in a team jersey and tied the country's flag around the fictional fighter's neck. It didn't go well. Amad Diallo scored in the 90th minute to lift Ivory Coast to a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in its first World Cup appearance in a dozen years. And there ain't gonna be no rematch. Brazil fans noticed the outcome and one of their fan groups, the Green and Yellow Movement, urged visitors to keep their clothing to themselves.