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Italians claim oracle octopus
Written by Duncan Monday, 12 July 2010
ShareIt is Paolo, not Paul. Italian media claimed as
their own the ”psychic” octopus who accurately predicts World Cup
results after his trainer in Germany on Sunday revealed he was caught
in Italian waters.
”The octopus‘ name is Paolo,” wrote sports newspaper Tuttosport on its website.
The
news is ”a small satisfaction for Italy at the end of a tournament that
has given the Azzurri very little joy,” wrote daily Il Corriere della
Sera on its website.
Verena Bartsch, the octopus‘
trainer on Sunday told the Sunday edition of Germany‘s Bild tabloid
newspaper that she caught him in April in the sea off the Italian
island of Elba, near Tuscany. He was four weeks old at the time.
Bartsch‘s
version conflicts with Paul‘s official biography, according to which
the octopus is two years old and came from Weymouth, England, before
moving to an aquarium in western Germany.
Paul has
accurately predicted seven out of seven games from his aquarium home,
where he is given two boxes, each containing a mussel and the flag of
the two competing World Cup teams.
”In its own way,
Italy is also the star of the 2010 World Cup,” wrote Italian newspaper
La Repubblica‘s online version, after the 2006 champions‘ disastrous
exit from the World Cup in the early stages of the tournament.
Italy
were embarrassingly bundled out of the World Cup following a shock 3-2
defeat to Slovakia on June 24, ending at the bottom of what had looked
like a fairly easy Group F.
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