Octopus Paul hero of World Cup Soccer- 2010
Spain won the Fifa World Cup -2010 held in South Africa by beating the Netherlands by a solitary goal.This was the first time the Spaniards won the World Cup .They set a record as they are also the reigning European Champions. The South Africans did a very commendable job and has made the 2010 Fifa world cup a huge success. People will remember 2010 world cup for many things but mostly for the vuvuzellas, spain being the world cup winners and also for “psychic” octopus who has intrigued many people including me when it predicted Spain to be the winner of 2010 Fifa World cup knocking Netherland out in the finals.
The Octopus is named Paul and resides in Sea life Aquarium in Oberhausen , Germany . The Octopus, which was born in the UK and was moved to the German aquarium and has become an international celebrity by making great predictions for Germany soccer team. Paul uses an odd way of picking the victor of the imminent match. He selects a mussel from any one of the 2 identical containers to suggest the winning team. The two-year-old cephalopod has a record of predicting past German results in this manner, his owners say.
Paul has correctly predicted all of Germany’s results in South Africa besides prophecing Spain to be the winner of the world cup 2010. His keepers say he accurately predicted nearly 70% of Germany’s results during the 2008 European Championship where Germany finished as runners-up in their qualifying group, having lost only once to Croatia.
“Paul’s prediction was phenomenal,” said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.
“He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside.”
The container that Paul opens first is said to be his pick for who will win the impending match, keepers say.
Octopus are known for their advanced intelligence and the ability to change the colour of their skin or the top part according to the surface that that touches them like their skin colour changes to checker board patterns when they are sitting on a checker board.Besides this they have the ability to squeeze through tiny holes or bottles as they have extremely flexible body with great sensitivity. Many think that Octopus are far superior than human beings in many ways. Researches and experiments are being conducted to understand the various structures and movements of Octopus and their intelligence and maybe one day we will all know how Octopus Paul is able to predict so accurately the winners of a forthcoming soccer match. Should we test him and check whether he is able to predict other things besides football matches ….. that would be interesting.