Every year in the UK, the DAFTAS Awards are held, nominations in which are awarded for the most unusual and strange events, phenomena or stories of the past year. In 2010, the award for Most Unusual Animal Story went to the famous octopus Paul.
He became famous for his ability to predict the results of matches with the German national team in 2010. For this, German football fans nicknamed him "the oracle octopus."
There were no remarkable features behind it. It looks like an ordinary small common octopus (lat.Octopus vulgaris). Paul lived in the aquarium of the "Center for Marine Life" in the German city of Oberhausen, where he was supposedly at the age of 4 months thanks to the octopus hunter Veren Bartsch in April 2008. He was caught near the Italian island of Elba.
The octopus got its name thanks to a children's poem by the German writer Boy Lornsen.
Paul gained worldwide fame when he began to "predict" the results of football matches between the German team and its rivals. Predictions began to come true back at Euro 2008, where the octopus correctly pointed out 4 victories of the German national team out of 6. How exactly it became known that the octopus has such "extraordinary" abilities is not entirely clear.
A little later, he was transplanted into a more voluminous and convenient aquarium, where, before the start of the match, 2 feeders were let in, on which the flags of Germany and its future rival were glued. The winner was the one whose trough Paul opened first.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the octopus correctly "predicted" the outcomes of all 7 matches. Even the prediction with the victory of the teams of Serbia (score 0: 1) and Spain (score 0: 1) turned out to be correct.
After predicting the victory of the German team for the bronze medals at the 2010 World Cup over Uruguay, the octopus was presented with a miniature copy of the World Cup. After that, the management of the center, where Paul lived, decided to stop making predictions for the results of the matches.
In October 2010, the octopus Paul turned 2 years and 8 months old. The age for an octopus is respectable. The zoo employees were already mentally ready for the death of the miracle octopus, as there were prerequisites for this: he lost his appetite and decreased activity. On the morning of October 26, 2010, Paul's octopus was gone. In early 2011, a monument was erected to him in the Sea Life Center, in the form of an octopus sitting on a soccer ball, inside which the remains of an animal are stored.
The Internet is like a raging sea, in which various troll waves are pumped over and over again, which add to it a kind of zest in the theme of entertainment. Remember, the captain is obvious, vuvuzelu and many others ...
But here is a slightly different case. Here we have a predictor of world championship winners.
Octopus Paul
- an oracle, a football predictor living in the German Oceanarium in Oberhausen. The name Paul came to him from a rhyme for children "Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus © Boy Lawrence".
What made him an oracle?
Once, before the match with Argentina, environmentalists from the PETA organization proposed to release Paul's octopus, but the administration of the aquarium, the center of marine life, said that Paul was not independent and would not be able to get his own food. And so, probably, at the next "feeding", the employees of the aquarium argued and decided to place bets, which later turned into something else, stunning.
How is the prediction procedure going?
The prediction procedure has not changed since the very first match of the German team in South Africa. Two glass boxes with the flags of the teams to be played are lowered into Paul's aquarium. Each of the boxes contains a clam, a kind of yummy that Paul eats. The octopus selects food from one of the boxes. Paul's predictions for the German team in this championship are 100% true so far.
At the 2010 World Cup, the octopus predicted Germany's defeat at the Serbian national team, victories over Australia, Ghana, England and Argentina. In addition, Paul gave an accurate forecast for the outcome of the semifinal match, in which the Germans lost to the Spanish team.
In turn, again and again rekindles a wave of sympathy for the octopus 
Paul's predictions at the 2008 European Championship came true with an accuracy of 80%. Then the octopus was mistaken in predicting the result of the final match: he gave preference to the Germans, and the Spanish national team won.
And the world champion in South Africa, according to the prediction of the octopus, will be Holland.
An example of a predictive process between England and Germany
Paul's prediction from the Aquarium in Oberhausen was broadcast live on Friday on the N-24 TV channel. The fight for the third place between the teams of Germany and Uruguay will take place on Saturday, July 10.
This time, the whole procedure took Paul a little longer than usual - the predictor octopus “divined” a little more than 10 minutes. At first, Paul hugged both glass boxes with tentacles, then moved to the box with the Uruguayan flag, and then launched the tentacles into the German box and slowly pulled out a mollusk from there, which he immediately ate.
Here are the last 2 minutes of the Uruguay - Germany prediction
Popularity
what can I say, if poor Paul is broadcast almost to the whole world. And half of Europe flies to look at the miracle of nature and take pictures with it.
Demotivator with Paul:
Octopus Paul died [VIDEO]
The famous octopus Paul, who predicted all the results of the German national team at the 2010 World Cup, died in the Seeelife aquarium this morning.This morning, the famous octopus Paul died in the Seelife aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen, who correctly guessed all the results of the German national team during the World Cup in South Africa, and also accurately named the champion and bronze medalist of the world championship.
The aquarium promises that after a while they will have a new Paul, reports the special correspondent of "Soviet Sport" Alexander LEVIT.
! Read the report from the oceanarium in tomorrow's issue of "Soviet Sport".
Paul also predicted the results not very pleasant for fans of the Bundesmannschaft, in particular the defeat of Germany against Serbia and Spain.
Guess the oracle octopus and the winner of the final match of the world championship.
PAUL HAD A STUDENT
The manager of the German "Seeelife", Bastian Shepper, confirmed to the correspondents of "Soviet Sport", Alexander Levit and Maxim Lyapin, the death of the octopus-predictor Paul, which was first reported by our portal.
Shepper states:
Of course, this is a loss, both in terms of image and from an economic point of view, says Shepper. - You yourself saw how many souvenirs we have associated with Paul. And that's not to mention the numerous visitors brought by our famous octopus diviner. We have a little octopus at the water park that was regularly trained by Paul. We hope that he will be just as good at making predictions. We'll almost certainly call him Paul II. At the moment, a detailed press release about all this is being prepared, which will soon appear on our website.
... Despite the fact that several hours have passed since the death of the world's most famous octopus Paul, no funeral events have yet been seen in the Oberhausen Aquarium. There are no reports that Paul is no longer officially posted. The aquarium management is preparing a press release and, apparently, only after its appearance, the whole world will become aware of Paul's death. Correspondents of "Soviet Sport", Alexander Levit and Maxim Lyapin were at the scene to some extent by accident, and the first, even before the official announcement, learned this tragic news.
Teams around the world spend hundreds of millions Euro on purchase new players and the invitation of eminent coaches, they create luxurious bases, pay for five-star hotels, educate thousands of young football players ... And all this for the sake of a single goal - victory.
It turns out that it is much easier to achieve the desired result. You don't have to waste fabulous money to win the Champions League or the World Cup. All you need to do is ... buy an octopus. Come on and feed him sometimes.
This is what they do in the German Oceanarium of Oberhausen. An octopus named Paul is a true diviner. His main profession is predicting match results. The technology is simple - two boxes with food are lowered into the octopus, which depicts the flags of Germany and the rival of the Bundestim. Which box Paul chooses - that team will win.
So far, the octopus guessed all the results of the German national team at the 2010 World Cup! Although before the match with Serbia, they put an end to the abilities of the mollusk - he chose a box with the flag of a Balkan country. "What nonsense, we will not lose to Serbia!" - surprised fans dismissed. But the octopus outwitted everyone. Germany really unexpectedly ceded to Serbia, and Paul became a real celebrity.
THE SECRETER BORN IN ENGLAND
Aquarium management quickly I realized that the amazing abilities of the mollusk are worth earning extra money. Now anyone can see the decisive moment of the "match" of the German national team - that is choice octopus from one of the coveted food boxes. By paying five euros, you will be the first to know how the next Bundestim game will end.
- We are proud of Paul, - says the press secretary of the aquarium Tanya Munziger. “You shouldn't think that all this is deception. Naturally, Paul does not have a magic ball that tells him future... But he has a great feeling - he knows at the subconscious level which box to choose. I trust Paul 100 percent and have already won 1000 euros, betting according to his forecasts!
By the way, our hero was born ... in England. However, over time he moved to Germany. Ironically, it was he who decided the fate of two native teams for himself.
- Before the match of 1/8 finals Germany - England Paul was categorical, - reveals a little secret Munziger. - Usually he thinks for a long time from which box to eat. But then he instantly chose German. With his confidence, he not only predicted the result of the match, but also its character - after all, Germany defeated England! That is why Paul had no doubts! But I don't think he betrayed his homeland. After all, Paul has a German passport.
The octopus has been working in the predictive business for several years. So, in 2008 Paul guessed all the results of the Bundestim at the European Championship. Therefore, the outcome of the Argentina - Germany match is actually already known, because Paul tasted food from a German box. This means that Lev's charges will beat Maradona's team. So quickly bring your money to the bookmaker's office - Paul is never wrong!
PES VERSUS PAUL
However, the Argentines, as befits the passionate fans of their national team, did not accept defeat. South Americans refuse to believe Paul's prediction. Therefore, they found their own seer - a dog named Clarito. The Argentines used the German scheme - two bowls with food and national flags of rivals.
Carlito, having carefully sniffed the contents of both (it was the same), walks around the bush for a long time and cannot decide in any way. The assembled fans of the Argentina national team are noticeably nervous - as if the decisive penalty kick is coming through! Fortunately for the fans of Maradona & Co, Clarito “hits exactly in the nine” - happily popping the whole “Argentinean” bowl. He doesn't even touch the "German" one. It turns out that the defeat of the German national team awaits us?
Paul, in addition to rivals, has enemies. For example, the famous Argentine chef Nicholas Beddorow posted a recipe for cooking octopus on the Internet. He is going to cook Paul and serve him with potatoes and bell peppers.
- The football world is a huge madhouse. Therefore, I was not surprised by the reaction of this eccentric cook, - admitted Munziger. “Well, now maybe we’ll hire an extra guard to keep Paul safe.”
Indeed, the life of an octopus is now more important than ever for the entire German nation. The fate of the national team at the World Cup depends on him!
PRIVATE BUSSINESS
Octopus PAUL
Born November 6, 2007 in London, England. Has dual citizenship - English and German.
Size 2 meters, weight 33 kg.
Career: Chief diviner of the German national team matches at Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010.
PAUL WAS WRONG TWICE
In fact, Paul has made two mistakes in his entire career, incorrectly predicting the outcomes of the 2008 UEFA European Championship matches Croatia-Germany and Spain-Germany.
Paul's predictions:
Matches with the participation of the German national team
| Rival | Tournament | Stage | Paul's forecast | Outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | Euro 2008 | Group stage | Germany | 2:0 | right |
| Croatia | Euro 2008 | Group stage | Germany | 1:2 | wrong |
| Austria | Euro 2008 | Group stage | Germany | 1:0 | right |
| Portugal | Euro 2008 | 1/4 finals | Germany | 3:2 | right |
| Turkey | Euro 2008 | Semifinal | Germany | 3:2 | right |
| Spain | Euro 2008 | The final | Germany | 0:1 | wrong |
| Australia | World Cup 2010 | Group stage | Germany | 4:0 | right |
| Serbia | World Cup 2010 | Group stage | Serbia | 0:1 | right |
| Ghana | World Cup 2010 | Group stage | Germany | 1:0 | right |
| England | World Cup 2010 | 1/8 finals | Germany | 4:1 | right |
| Argentina | World Cup 2010 | 1/4 finals | Germany | 4:0 | right |
| Spain | World Cup 2010 | Semifinal | Spain | 0:1 | right |
| Uruguay | World Cup 2010 | 3rd place match | Germany | 3:2 |
The clam, which Iniesta named the protagonist of the final in Johannesburg.
“People need to believe in something. But life is so short and dangerous that you have to believe in what will come after it, "- the quote is taken from the movie" Bringing to the bottom in Bruges. " What do the black comedy of Martin McDonagh have in common with the world's main event? If you open your eyes, you can see the parallels. Only three hundred kilometers separates the city in West Flanders (which brought so much joy to Vladimir Gabulov) and the town of Oberhausen in Germany, where Paul tossed and prophesied at the bottom of the Sea Life aquarium. The octopus who determined the winners of all the 2010 World Cup matches that he was asked to guess.
- What kind of hero am I? - Andres Iniesta was jokingly surprised after the exhausting final in Johannesburg. - Congratulations to the octopus Paul! And I just made my small contribution to our common victory.
On the eve, according to custom, two containers with mussels were lowered into Paul's "water house". We marked them with the flags of the rival teams. Swift tentacles slid across the lid of the Bundesteam. The fans of Lev's team grinned in satisfaction, when suddenly ... The body of the octopus fell into the box of the "red fury". Two seconds later, Paul was enjoying his dinner.