SPAIN WINS Thanks to INIESTA and the PSYCHIC OCTOPUS

UPDATED at 9:45 PM ET: Spain has won its first World Cup Trophy – thanks to its midfielder number 6 Iniesta and Paul the psychic octopus who gave them a moral and spiritual kinda head-start by predicting they would win.

 

The Spaniards beat the Netherlands 1-0 during the end of the second extra time.

 

The defeat was heartbreaking for the Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John Heitinga was red-carded and sent off with 10 minutes remaining in the extra time. Heitinga was hauling down Iniesta on the edge of the box. Ironically it was Iniesta who later scored the only goal – the winning one – in the game.

 

For the Dutch, it was their third World Cup final loss after 1974 and 1978. But for Spain the world cup trophy is the first in their history.

 

Spain is already the European champions. Thanks to Paul – the sea creature – and of course to Iniesta the number 6 midfielder, the Spaniards now hold both titles – the European and the World.

 

The Spaniards can now name the octopus Pablo and bring them home to Spain from Germany where he is housed in a museum. They owe it to the sea creature and to all those who believed Paul was right!

 

Paul now maintains his 100 per cent World Cup success rate after correctly predicting Spain would beat Holland in the final.

                                Here’s Paul aka Pablo:

 

The Telegraph UK has the following to report on Paul also now known as Pablo:

(Paul’s) His unblemished record, confirmed by Spain’s 1-0 win, came after correctly predicting the result of all six matches involving Germany in the tournament.

 

Bookmakers said his German keepers could have won £6,000 had they bet on all his predictions with an original £20 wager – the cost of feeding him for a week.

 

Dorset-born Paul, who now lives at Sea Life Oberhausen, an aquarium in western Germany, eats £20 of shrimps, mussels and fish every week.

World Cup final: 100 per cent for Paul the psychic octopus

Paul the psychic octopus maintained his 100 per cent World Cup success rate by correctly predicting Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the final.

The mystic mollusc confirmed his flawless accuracy after Spain lifted the trophy, beating Holland 1-0.

 

Paul has become England’s only hero of the tournament after accurately foretelling the result of all six matches involving Germany.

The Dorset-born soothsayer also won privileged status in Spain after he predicted that its footballers would defeat the Dutch at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday night.

Even the Spanish Prime Minsiter Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero expressed his affection for the creature after his prediction was announced on Friday.

 

"I am concerned for the octopus. I am thinking of sending him a protective team," Zapatero said.

 

Elena Espinosa, the Spanish environment and fisheries minister also swore to protect Paul.

"On Monday, I shall be at the European Council of Ministers and I shall be asking for a [fishing] ban on Paul the octopus so the Germans do not eat him," Espinosa said.

 

Paul’s call looked to be in doubt as the game was still goalless after 90 minutes and there was still no clear winner with only four minutes of extra time remaining.

 

However, with Holland down to 10 men, Andres Iniesta took the Spaniards into the lead with a devastating shot from the edge of the box.

 

Moments later, Spain was celebrating taking it first ever World Cup title.

 

Paul, a common octopus, has astounded the world of football with his forecasts, so much so that people have began betting on them rather than the outcomes of the matches themselves.

 

He was born at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth but developed his soothsaying skills after being transferred to Sea Life Oberhausen, an aquarium in western Germany.

 

Keepers devised a dinnertime game in which he was offered the choice of two glass boxes containing a mussel.

 

During the Euro 2008 football championships, flags of the competing sides were placed on the containers and it was noted that on almost every occasion, the team that Paul’s tentacle touched first went on to win their match.

 

The trick was repeated at the start of South Africa’s World Cup for Germany’s games, and as the tournament progressed his uncannily accurate predictions were followed ever more closely.

 

Paul guessed the outcome of all Germany’s group games, including their shock loss to lowly Serbia, as well as their defeat of England and Argentina in subsequent rounds.

 

There was national anguish after he picked the container bearing the Spanish flag ahead of Wednesday night’s semi-final, with angry fans calling for him to be “thrown into the shark tank”.

 

When Spain beat Germany, preserving his 100 per cent record, “anti-octopus” songs were aired in Berlin while Spanish fans chanted his name at the stadium in Durban.

Spain wins 2010 World Cup as predicted by Oktopus

Spain has won the 2010 World Cup with a 1-0 extra-time defeat of the Netherlands in the final at Soccer City in Johannesburg.


Andres Iniesta scored the decisive goal in the 116th minute following a lovely pass from Cesc Fabregas to condemn the Dutch to their third World Cup final defeat.

The scores were deadlocked at 0-0 following 90 minutes of regulation time.

More to follow shortly.

Spain: 1 (A Iniesta 116')

Netherlands: 0

Spain won the world cup soccer as predicted by Paul the Octopus

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Spain won the world cup soccer against netherland 1-0 as predicted by Paul the Octopus.

Mani the Parakeet Challenges Paul the Octopus' 2010 World Cup Final Pick, Chooses Netherlands

Mani the Parakeet Successfully Chose the Entire Final Four World Cup Contenders

Those that were a sucker for Paul the Octopus' prognostications might simply believe that the predictions of Mani the Parakeet are simply bird-brained. Mani the Parakeet, an avian clairvoyant from Singapore, successfully chose the winners of the four World Cup semi-final games but contradicted the octopus to pick a different team to win the 2010 World Cup Final on Sunday. Unlike the octopus, the bird went with the underdogs -- Mani the Parakeet chose the Netherlands as this year's World Cup Final champion.

 

Paul the Octopus made world headlines when he put his 100 percent correct prediction record on the line and went against his homeland team, Germany, in the 2010 World Cup semi-final match-up against Spain. And when it was over, he remained 100 percent, as he did when he chose Germany to win the consolation match-up against Uruguay for third place. Now only one game remains that could keep Paul the Octopus' record a perfect 100 percent -- the 2010 World Cup Final game.

 

As should be expected, the two animals have very different selection methods. Paul the Octopus chooses his winners by opening one of two identical jars, each containing a single mussel. Mani the Parakeet predicts his winners via a selection of cards, one of which he chooses.

 

If there is an advantage (unfair?) to be found with one of the animals, perhaps it is in that Mani the Parakeet's owner is a fortune teller...

 

If letting animals choose your ultimate World Cup Final winner is just a bit too dicey, then perhaps a look at gambling odds produced by 'experts' is in order. SportsBetting.com has predicted Spain the winner at a half-goal advantage going into the Final match-up. (A word of caution: Try not to think about the fact that humans are simply animals with higher functioning brains when one sides with spreadsheets, indicators, trends, and "hunches".)

 

Regardless of whether Paul the Octopus or Mani the Parakeet ends up being correct in their 2010 World Cup Final game prognostication, the match-up will see a first-time ever World Cup winner.

Football: Netherlands will beat Spain, predicts Dutch octopus

THE HAGUE - Pauline, a female octopus in Dutch captivity, has predicted victory for the Netherlands in Sunday's World Cup final against Spain, contradicting Paul the "psychic" German octopus after whom she was named, her aquarium said Friday.

 

"She chose the Netherlands," Maaike Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Sea Life aquarium in Scheveningen in The Hague told AFP.

 

This was a first attempt at divination for four-year-old Pauline, added Schroeder.

 

In a similar method as that famously employed for Paul, two boxes -- one with the Dutch flag, the other that of Spain and each with a mussel inside, were placed in Pauline's enclosure on Thursday.

 

Pauline opted for the mussel in the Dutch box for her meal.

 

Paul, the eight-legged oracle, has become a World Cup sensation by correctly predicting the outcome of all six Germany's World Cup games. He opted for Spain on Friday in a prediction carried live on national German television.

Paul the German octopus picks Netherland

Paul the German octopus that has been spot on with all of his previous predictions in the World Cup has picked the Netherlands to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The attention surrounding Paul has been ridiculous with the media latching onto this improbable story and not letting it go. All in all it has been great for the fans! Despite their amazing form in the semi-final I guess Spain is going down?