World Cup prodigy Paul the Octopus dies in Germany
Paul the octopus, who rose to fame due his almost perfect record of predicting the results of the matches during this season’s Football World Cup which was held in South Africa, has died on Tuesday, as reported by his owners in Germany.
He was a common octopus who used to live in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Germany, despite of originally being from England. Paul gained immense popularity in this season’s football world cup for his accurate predictions of the matches as he correctly predicted
the winner of Germany’s seven clashes along with the finals.
"Paul amazed the world by correctly predicting the winners of all Germany's World Cup clashes, and then of the final. His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself. We had all naturally grown very fond of him and he will be sorely
missed,” reflected Stefan Porwoll, who is the Sea Life Manager in Germany.
Paul surpassed the betting odds during the world cup by forecasting all eight clashes he was asked to predict, including Spain’s 1-0 victory over Netherlands in the title battle. The octopus was presented with two boxes filled with food in the form of a
mussel, with each box marked with the flag of the national sides taking part in the next match. Paul used to pick up the box with the flag of the winning team and that happened in all the seven matches of Germany in World Cup.
Paul took retirement from making predictions after the FIFA World Cup on October 26th this season. As a reward for his correct predictions, Paul was given his very own replica World Cup Trophy garnished with mussels, which was Paul’s favourite
food by the aquarium staff.
"We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds and erect a modest permanent shrine. While this may seem a curious thing to do for a sea creature, Paul achieved such popularity during his short life that it may be deemed the most
appropriate course of action,” remarked dejected Stefan on Tuesday.
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