BERLIN, (AFP) - During last
year's World Cup in South
Africa, Paul the Octopus shot to
fame for his accurate match
predictions, so for the women's
competition starting in
Germany on Sunday, step
forward ... Paula.
The tentacled tipster was put
through her paces on Friday in
Konstanz in southern Germany, but
made the shock choice that Canada
will win Sunday's opening match
against the hosts in Berlin.
The octopus, whose gender is
actually unknown, had to choose
between two compartments in a
plastic box in its tank, one with a
Germany flag and one with a
Canada one, with each containing a
tasty morsel.
The prediction is a bold one as
Germany, whose women are
hoping to win their third
consecutive World Cup, have never
lost any of their previous nine
matches to Canada.
Paula, however, is only one of eight
salty soothsayers housed at eight
different Sea Life centres in Germany
competing to become the official
successor to British-born Paul, who
lived in an aquarium in Oberhausen.
All eight will be asked to predict the
outcome of all Germany's matches
in the June 26-July 17 women's
competition.
While Paula and an eight-legged
colleague in Munich both backed
Canada on Friday, the fishy
forecasters in Berlin, Koenigswinter
and Oberhausen plumped for
Germany, making the combined
predictions 3-2 in the hosts' favour.
But the method of enticing the
underwater oracles to predict the
winner proved to be far from fool-
proof -- three octopuses in other
locations in Germany snubbed the
treats on offer and ignored both
boxes.
This was determined by aquarium
officials to mean that they expect a
draw.
Meanwhile one-year-old African
elephant Nelly got in on the
forecasting act at the Serengeti Park
in Hodenhagen, near Hanover, by
predicting a win for Germany after
opting to kick a ball into the Canada
net when given a choice.
But it is all a far cry so far from last
summer's performances by Paul --
who has become something of an
icon here -- after he kept a clean
sheet in the men's competition in
South Africa.
He correctly foretold the outcome of
all Germany's games, even a defeat
to Serbia in the group stage and to
Spain in the semi-finals, as well as
Spain's eventual victory in the final.
In the process he cost bookmakers
a fortune and won worldwide fame,
with rolling news channels in
Germany carrying live coverage
when he was asked to choose -- as
they did with Paula on Friday.
Paul died aged nearly three in
October, sparking hundreds of
messages of condolence from his
fan club on social networking
website Facebook, whose ranks
have more than tripled since his
death to more than 200,000.
September 01, 2009, 05:22:49 AM