“It’s the duck!” a man shouted outside the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, and a dozen people ran over with their phones out. In the middle of them stood Merlin, a duck aged two, in a green Mexico jersey with the number 12 on the back, his wings tucked inside the shirt.
Merlin has become the unlikely face of the World Cup in Mexico. The number is a nod to football supporters. He owes his fame to a stranger with a camera. Karla Ivette Gomez, a street vendor aged 48, was pushing her juice cart down a main avenue with her son when a girl filmed them. “That’s when we went viral,” she told AFP. “At no point did we think he would go so viral.”
A duck who sold bottled water
Before the tournament, Merlin was already a regular in the historic centre. On weekends he waddled behind Gomez and her son Cristian with a cart of bottled water and soft drinks around Bellas Artes, the Alameda and the Zócalo. Cristian received him as a present, and boy and duck were soon inseparable.
The family’s attachment is plain. “We don’t like to leave him alone at home; we like him to be with us. He’s our baby,” Gomez told an Associated Press reporter. Cristian, who is 14, says simply: “He’s part of the family.” His mother lugs a bag of water and spare clothes for the bird, and every so often the shirt comes off so he can stretch his wings and rest.
He is the family’s third duck, handed over by a customer after the previous one died. His name comes from the wizard of medieval legend.
Fame arrives with the opener
The picture that spread widely was taken on Thursday, June 11, when Mexico beat South Africa to open its home campaign and fans poured into the streets in green and gold. Merlin, in a miniature jersey and matching socks, paraded through the crowd. Photos went around social media and collected millions of views, and he was soon being called the tournament’s first mascot.
Attention snowballed. Bakeries began selling pastries shaped like him in his jersey. Television stations interviewed him for his World Cup analysis, and his forecasts were consistent: “Quack, quack, quack.” By the Monday after the opener, Gomez and her duck had an invitation from FIFA: a photoshoot and a commercial. She says word is going round that he will be named FIFA’s ambassador in Mexico. “We’re very proud of the mention.”
Fame has its costs. At his last checkup, Gomez admits, the vet pronounced him overweight. His diet is fruit, vegetables, crickets and fish, plus “every now and then a taco.”
Gomez has tied it all back to the team. “Mexico, we are with you,” she said. “And Merlin is your No. 1 fan.” Animals have been part of World Cup folklore at least since Paul the Octopus in South Africa in 2010, and the zoo in Guadalajara has run similar exercises with an elephant, gorillas and a puma.
