OBERHAUSEN, Germany: An octopus in Germany who has shot to fame for correctly predicting the result of all of the country’s World Cup matches so far on Tuesday forecast a win over Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Two plastic boxes containing tasty morsels, one with a Germany flag and one with an Argentina flag, were lowered into the tank that houses Paul the octopus at his home in Sea Life in Oberhausen, western Germany.
The box which Paul opened first was adjusted to be his predicted winner
Watched by a scrum of photographers, Paul plumped for Diego Maradona’s all-stars crashing out to Joachim Loew’s side in Saturday’s eagerly anticipated encounter.
Earlier in the tournament, the eight-legged oracle correctly tipped Germany to beat Ghana and Australia in their group D matches and was also right to predict they would lose to Serbia.
And even though he was born in England, he also treacherously but correctly foretold Germany’s win over his native country in their last-16 clash on Sunday.
But in view perhaps of the tougher opposition that Diego Maradona’s side will pose Germany on Saturday than England did last Sunday, the eight-legged soccer soothsayer took more than an hour to decide.
Sunday’s encounter in Cape Town, therefore, might go to extra time — or even penalties.
Ahead of the England game, which saw Germany’s young guns demolish Fabio Capello’s ageing Premier League stars 4-1, Paul needed just eight seconds to make up his mind.
Argentina coach Maradona should not throw in the towel just yet, however, as Paul has been wrong before. For the European Championships in 2008, his success rate was only 80 percent.
