FIFA World Cup 2010 – Profile - Paul the Psychic Octopus
With the FIFA World Cup 2010 coming to its end, we’ve been introduced to a new celebrity character besides the star players, coaches or commentators; and that character is the famous German octopus, “Paul!” Paul has recently become one of the stars of the tournament and he is all over the news, television screens, magazines and most of all, in the talks of the football fans. Paul, apparently, can predict correctly about the German matches and he has been 100% correct about all the German matches, throughout the tournament. He predicted that Spain was going to win the semi final, and Germany lost the match as the Spaniards advanced to play the World Cup final for the first time ever. Below are a few things that you would like to know about “Paul the psychic octopus!”
Firstly, Paul is not German. Although Paul is now a part of an Aquarium Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany; Paul, was not born there. He was actually born in England and was moved to Germany from his town, Weymouth's Sea Life Park in 2006. Fiona Smith, who is from Weymouth Sea Life Park told the press that Paul was actually born in England but he did not really predict football matches here and now he is famous all around the world for his predictions.
Secondly, Paul is a “wanted man.” Paul has been a wanted octopus since he predicted all the matches correctly. When Argentina lost its match against Germany, many fans wanted to kill it or even eat it for that matter. An Argentinean cook named Nicolas Bedorrou said that he would really want to grab the octopus, beat it till it’s not dead and then put it in boiling water to keep it tender. Not only this cook, but many other Argentinean fans have been really angry at Paul about predicting all the matches correctly, and for a few, against their teams.
Thirdly, Paul is the “big news” these days. Paul has gained too much popularity recently, because of his “amazing” predictions which have been correct throughout the World Cup. There are two reporters right next to his tank all the time to tell the people of the World about him, every minute. The German news channel NTV broadcasts Paul 24/7 to catch its viewers, just because he is very famous now.
Moreover, Paul is the biggest celebrity in Oberhausen, Germany. As Paul is in Oberhausen, which is a city with big malls and shopping centres, Paul became the biggest celebrity as more people came to visit the city. The more the people are attracted to the city, the more Paul they see in everyday’s life. People in Oberhausen are amazed by Paul’s “gift” and expect him to continue predicting, as Germany is going to face Uruguay for the 3rd and 4th place.
At fifth, Paul has a very good track record. Paul started his predictions back in Euro 2008 when Germany had qualified in the European Championship to become the European Champions. During that tournament, Paul predicted 4 out of 6 matches correctly; leaving out Croatia and the match against Spain which was the final of the tournament. Paul predicted Germany is going to win against Croatia and Spain, but the opposite happened back then. However, now, Paul has predicted all the matches correctly, including the semi final against Spain and the second group match against Serbia where Germany lost the match, just like he predicted.
Besides all this, Paul is also famous on Facebook and Twitter. People from all around the world are talking about him over Facebook and twitter, the online social networks. The words Paul the Octopus are the top 10 searches on Twitter at the moment.
Moreover, Paul doesn’t even cheat. He is just given two containers full of clams and he just eats from one clam and the winner is selected. There is no trick and he cannot even cheat in this, as everything that happens, happens after his predictions. Therefore, people actually believe his predictions and are even, maybe, betting over him.
Last but not least, Paul has received many death threats and he is not afraid of them. According to his owner, he received threats from the Argentineans fans after their team suffered a terrible loss from the Germans. He said there are always people threatening him but we’re here to take care of him as the octopus remains calm and steady about his predictions.
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