Paul the Octopus predicts Spain to win
Paul, the world famous “psychic” octopus, has made his predictions for this weekend’s two last games of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. For Saturday’s third place game he predicts Germany to beat Uruguay, while Sunday’s final goes to Spain over the Netherlands.
The eight-legged oracle, with an unblemished record in picking winners, has become a World Cup sensation by correctly predicting all the six games Germany has played so far in this World Cup, chose his country of residence Germany on Friday, during an event carried live on national television with two reporters doing commentary and in the presence of dozens of foreign media.
Some German fans were very bitter after Paul predicted Germany’s loss against Spain in the semi-final game and threatening to turn him into sushi, making the art of predicting football games a dangerous job for the English-born clairvoyant cephalopod.
Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany, where Paul lives, has even received death threat emails saying “We want Paul for the pan,” said entertainment supervisor Daniel Fey. “Since yesterday our colleagues have kept a very close eye on Paul,” Fey added.
Top political leaders in Spain are worried about the oracle mussel-eater’s safety. After Paul’s correct prediction about Spain’s semi-final win, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero came to the defense of the “psychic” octopus and called for octopus bodyguards.
“I am concerned for the octopus … I am thinking of sending him a protective team,” joked Zapatero on Radio Cadena Ser. Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian has called for the creature to be given an “immediate” free transfer to Spain to “ensure his protection.”
Spanish football fans are in heaven about “La Roja” reaching their first World Cup final, but are preplexed and worried about some irate – if not idiotic – German fans who blame Paul for their team’s 1-0 loss against Spain in the World Cup semis. “That crazy octopus was right. Calamares for everyone,” yelled a customer at a Greek restaurant in Frankfurt.
Paul has become an instant success in Spain for obvious reasons. A Twitter account “Pulpo Paul” is one of the most searched in the social networks. And there are a number of fan pages on Facebook, mostly from Spain
Some Germans were stung by Paul’s “treachery” at picking Spain over Germany in the semi-final and some sections of the 350,000-strong crowd watching the game on giant screens in Berlin sang anti-octopus songs. Many voices of discontent were heard and the honor of Paul’s mother was called into question, according to witnesses.
Netherlands fans are naturally upset and anxious about Paul’s prediction. Their only hope is that Paul makes a mistake as he did two years ago, when he wrongly predicted that Germany would beat Spain in the Euro 2008 Final. But that was two years ago when Paul was only six months old and possibly not as wise.
Octopuses have a life span of up to three years, so Paul can be considered a senior citizen in the octopus world.
