Paul the Octopus: Saint or Sushi?

paul the octopus

 | Jul 14th, 2010 | by Editor

Paul “the Oracle” Octopus might have retired from his soothsaying career victoriously (with a 100 percent accuracy rate in his 2010 World Cup predictions) but that hasn't stopped some from wanting to see his head on a plate. Literally.



“Throw him in a frying pan,” the Berliner Kurier rallied, after Paul the Octopus's predictions proved correct and Germany lost its match to Spain.



But German football fans aren't the only ones wanting the eight-legged oracle to fry. Some disappointed Argentineans have held the squid responsible for not only predicting their country's loss to Germany but for influencing it as well. As The Sun reported, a host of the Argentinean show “A Perfect World” went as far as to decapitate an octopus on live television in a graphic display of revenge.



“Your moment has arrived, little Nazi octopus,” Roberto Pettinato was reported as saying as he stuffed the remains of the octopus into a blender.



But at least Paul the Octo-Oracle still has the Spaniards' support. Although Spanish player Carlos Marchena told reporters “it's only an octopus”, defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets claimed that he and the rest of Spain are so enamored with Paul, they'd like to rechristen him 'Pablo'. And after Spain's final victory in the World Cup against the Netherlands, Andres Iniesta, when asked for an opinion on all the sea psychic hoopla, answered:



"As far as the octopus, what can I say? We won."



Netherland's players and coach, on the other hand, maintain that their team lost due to poor referring and not psychic Paul. Some fans think otherwise though, claiming the Octopus's predictions had an effect on the team's morale.



“Had it not been for this creature called Octopus Paul,” Holland fan, Walt van Vonk, told a Christian Science Monitor reporter, “...Holland could have destroyed Spain.”


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