Octopus Paul passes away
All you wanted to know about Octopus Paul
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Paul the octopus, who shot to fame during this year's football World Cup in South Africa for correctly predicting the outcome of games, has died, his aquarium in Germany said on Tuesday.
"Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved global renown during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight," the aquarium said in a sombre statement.
He had become more famous than some of the biggest soccer stars at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Octopus Paul became a phenomenon with his 'bang-on' predictions, which included his prediction for Spain. He retired after the event.
Here is all you wanted to know about Paul and didn't know whom to ask. -
The Oracle Octopus was not German by birth. He was English, having been born in Weymouth in England. Many from England had hope that sheer loyalty to his place of birth would make him predict an England win in their knock-out match against Germany. He did not.
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Paul got better with age. His prediction record at this year's FIFA World Cup was 100% accurate. During the 2008 European Cup he had correctly predicted the outcome of 80% of Germany's games. He got the finals wrong too, predicting a Germany win – Spain won.