Ahead of yesterday’s Champions League final and with the Euro 2012 soccer tournament just around the corner, animals of all shapes and sizes are queuing up to succeed Paul the Octopus, the famous clairvoyant cephalopod from the 2010 World Cup.
Paul, an octopus who lived at an aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen, rose to fame during the last World Cup for correctly “predicting” the outcome of eight consecutive matches at the tournament.
The tentacled soothsayer, who picked winners by selecting food from boxes decorated with teams’ national flags, passed away after the tournament, but there are now plenty of animals bidding to step into his (eight) shoes.
Photo: EPA
Ahead of yesterday’s Champions League showdown in Munich between Bayern Munich and Chelsea, a local sausage dog named Sissi and an octopus called Rosi from nearby Rosenheim both predicted that Bayern would prevail.
Dachshund Sissi opted for a dish of food underneath a goal bearing the Bayern logo, while Rosi chose food from a box in Bayern red, apparently backing the Bavarians to beat Chelsea at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
However, reports from England said Nicholas, a llama from Sussex, believed the Blues would prevail, after he chose a blue ball in his pen over a red one.
English tabloid the Daily Mirror reports that Nicholas’ prediction carries some weight, as he correctly predicted that Chelsea would beat Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Euro 2012 co-host Ukraine claims to have found a psychic pig with a snout for soccer who will be predicting results at the tournament.
The massive hog still has no name, but is described by Kiev authorities in mystical terms that promise success similar to the one enjoyed by his eight-armed predecessor, Paul.
The pig will be presented in the fan zone on the city’s main avenue Khreshchatyk each match day at 4pm once the tournament kicks off in co-host nation Poland on June 8.
The city administration issued a formal statement announcing it had found a “unique psychic hog who knows football secrets” and was proudly born and raised in Ukraine.
The pig is a well-loved animal in a nation famous for its “salo” — a thick slice of especially lardy bacon that Ukrainians eat raw on top of a small piece of rye bread.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was