Auf Wiedersehen? Psychic Octopus Predicts German Defeat in World Cup Semifinal Match Against Spain
Achtung, Deutschland: The so-called “psychic octopus” that’s thus far predicted the outcomes of Germany’s 2010 World Cup matches with 100% accuracy, most recently calling the German victory against Argentina, has a rather more gloomy prediction for Germany’s quarterfinal match against Spain, which takes place tomorrow at 2:30pm EDT: He’s predicted that Spain will win the match. But there’s still a glimmer of hope for Germany’s fans:
Update: Nope: Spain wins 1-0, knocking Germany out and leaving Paul the octopus with a perfect 100% record.
According to the Telegraph, the only time the psychic octopus (his name is Paul, by the way) has incorrectly picked the winner in one of Germany’s matches was in the Germany-Spain final at Euro 2008. “The octopus opted for Germany but Spain were the victors, winning 1-0. German fans are now hoping the opposite will happen and by picking Spain to win it will actually be Germany who come out on top.”
As you can see in the video below — which was covered live on German television by commentators, because Paul’s predictions are such a big deal there — the octopus picks the winners of matches by dropping mussels into glass cubes adorned with the flags of Germany and its upcoming soccer competitor: The cube that receives the mussel first is the predicted winner.
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