Psychic Octopus Picks Spain

Sunday’s World Cup final seems too close to call, even for the world’s new favorite psychic animals. Paul the Octopus, from Oberhausen, Germany, picked Spain for the second round in a row after predicting it would eliminate his home country in the semi-finals. Paul is now 6-0 for the tournament, having correctly predicated the outcome every German game, including its upset at the hands of Serbia in the group stage. He even drew death threats for picking against Germany in the semi-finals, though Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has promised the cephalopod state protection. But Mani, a parakeet in Singapore, is siding with the Netherlands in the final. According to his owner, Mani accurately called all four quarter-final outcomes and Spain’s semi-final victory over Germany.