Global: Paul the German Octopus Calls Another Match

Paul the octopus

Paul the Octopus seen here predicting a German victory in a previous game.

For the past few weeks, amidst global World Cup madness, a young German octopus named Paul has been accurately predicting the victors of each football match from inside his tank at SeaLife Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. Today was no exception: Paul chose Spain over Germany, once again proving his dissenters wrong:

BREAKING NEWS: The octopus was right: Spain beat Germany 1-0 in World Cup semifinals; advances to final against Netherlands

Today, the Twittersphere has been abuzz with quips, criticisms, and encouragements for Paul, with “psychic octopus” trending in some locales (such as the UK). In India, mojorojo had a limerick to share:

Twas an octopus named Paul, who picked winners at football. Chose the team in red, so they cut off his head, & served him with some Emmental

Prior to the outcome of the game, some Twitter users were perhaps a bit concerned for Paul's safety in Germany. Dutch DJ Tiesto quipped:

if Germany loses they will make fried calamari out of Paul the octopus! haha

Others offered tributes to Paul, such as Paris and Jakarta-based narizza:

next time I go to sushi bar I will salute all the octopus, including tako sashimi and chuka lidako.

Others are clearly doubtful of Paul's abilities. Dubai-based duguzzle shared this sarcastic remark about the soothsaying cephalopod:

Paul the octopus just said it's going to be hot in Dubai tomorrow.

Kenya-based uncleTeeJay may have a use for the eight-tentacled creature, but still suggests nefarious plans:

That octopus should be sought for referendum results. It may do us some good before cooked

What remains to be seen is who Paul will pick for the final matches…and whether or not he'll end up as takoyaki.

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