Germans Demand Frying of Octopus Paul over World Cup Forecasts

The speaker of the aquarium in Oberhausen assured that Paul will not be cooked. Photo by EPA/BGNES

German football fans called upon the grilling of Paul the Octopus, a psychic cephalopod at Sea Life in Oberhausen, western Germany, who became a World Cup phenomenon after correctly predicting the result in all Germany's matches, including the defeat to Spain in their last game of the tournament.

While he was predicting victories for the German football team, Paul the Octopus was a national hero. After his prediction about the defeat to Spain, Paul is closer to the frying pan, rather than the hearts of the Germans.

“Throw him in the frying pan with burning oil,” the German “Berliner Kurier” called upon, followed by similar headlines in other German media like “Die Welt”, “Zuddeutsche Zeitung” and “Hamburger Abendblatt”.

In the beginning of July, Argentina wanted to serve Paul in a paella because of his prediction that Germany will defeat them.

“Do not worry about Paul. Nothing bad can happen to him. He will not be cooked,” said Tanja Munzig, the speaker of the aquarium in Oberhausen.

Paul the Octupus not only will not be cooked, but he will even make a forecast on Friday who will be the world champion.

“Not only we will not cook him, but he might even start a career. We already have a few requests for him. In any case, Paul did a great performance at the World Cup,” Munzig said.