Paul the Octopus vs Mani the Parakeet: Spain vs Netherlands

On Wednesday, I wrote an article talking about how Paul the Octopus has been the best story in this World Cup, and that he should be allowed to pick the World Cup Finals. Well, the oracle has spoken, and predicted Spain will defeat the Dutch for the championship, and that the Germans will defeat Uruguay for third place.

Out of nowhere, a new oracle arrives to the scene, Mani the Parakeet. The owner of Mani, claims that Mani has predicted every quarterfinals game correctly, and Spain over Germany in the Semi-finals, but, predicted Netherlands-Uruguay game incorrectly. So Mani is not perfect in this World Cup.

I'm not sure who to trust here. Paul has predicted every German game correctly so far (and there is evidence of it) but has not been tested on game not having the Germans play in it. Mani, has no evidence of predicting the quarterfinals games, but give the parakeet the benefit of the doubt. So this means the bird can predict games excluding his favorite team.

If I had to say which one of these "oracles" to trust, I would say Paul the Octopus, hands down, but I wish he was tested outside of a German World Cup game. I'm sure Mike, the other contributer to this blog, and soccer "expert" could go into vast detail about the Spanish Golden Team of All Stars that could only be compared to the USA Basketball team, taking on a solid Dutch side labeled as a Dark Horse this entire World Cup, a good title to always have going into the Final.

On Sunday, it's sure to be a battle of two European Powerhouses with one finally being able to claim a golden trophy of their own and have a golden star above their logo on their jerseys for the rest of time. It will also be a battle of Oracles, an octopus vs a parakeet to see which one can guess the final game correctly, and possibly become the story of this World Cup as Zidane's headbutt was in 2006.

My prediction: I say Paul but definitely guesses the last German game correctly, and Deutschland will finish in 3rd place. For the Winner, of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, I say.....

win it all. Mani and Paul, will have guessed one game wrong in this World Cup. I hope Paul goes undefeated, but that is my prediction, because Paul only guessed German games before, his luck will run out in Spain vs Netherlands. Now Mike can give real advice on who will win this World Cup based on talent, and style on both teams.

Christian N.


Christian is a Philadelphia Native, and is a political & sports columnist for several Newspapers across North America. He is also a season ticket holder of the Philadelphia Union and can be followed on Twitter along with his Website.

Sources: 

1. http://sports.rediff.com/report/2010/jul/09/football-world-cup-2010-paul-mani-uttam-take.htm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands

Paul The Octopus is The Best Story of this World Cup

This World Cup will be remembered for many things. The First World Cup in Africa, the first time the host nation failing to advance out of their group, the first European team winning the World Cup outside of Europe, possibly the first time (Spain) a team winning the World Cup after losing their first game in the group stage, and finally two teams, who have never won the World Cup, (Netherlands, Spain) one can claim they finally made it all the way, and both are powerhouses of Soccer. The Dutch have been dubbed "the best team to never win it all" and they hope that label can go to the coffin on June 12.


There is of course, the controversy as well, such as people dying trying to get to the games, crime way up, transit not being able to meet the demands of the people at these games, corruption, and oh, and how could we forget the worst refereeing in human history in one month's time from USA-Slovenia, USA-Algeria, England-Germany and the list goes on.

The amazing, true story in this World Cup is, Paul the Octopus. This "German Squid" has predicted every game correctly and is 6-0. What they would do (as seen in the picture) is place a treat in two boxes (with the country's flag on the box) and whichever treat he grabbed first would turn out to be the winner of the game. 


He was laughed at when he picked Serbia over Germany after the Germans crushed Australia 4-0, but Paul got the last laugh. When he picked Spain over Germany, Germans held their breath, but this "oracle" was right again, and is now becoming popular all over the World. He hasn't been tested with a soccer game that did not have Germany in it, but let him try to predict the World Cup final, because it seems that you cannot change the "fate" Paul places on the losing team and I think many betting people want to take Paul's "advice" before they go to Vegas.  


Christian N.


Christian is a Philadelphia Native, and is a political & sports columnist for several Newspapers across North America. He is also a season ticket holder of the Philadelphia Union and can be followed on Twitter along with his Website.


Sources: 

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/06/paul-the-octopus-stuns-ge_n_636118.html
2. http://publicmb.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/2010-logo.jpg